Show Me the Way from Crazy
by Random Rockstar
Summary: [Shounen-ai] [Malik x Ryou] Malik moves in with Ryou (and his insane yami.) No good can come out of this, right? [...discontinued...]
1. Drive out Darkness

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
****One  
Drive**** out Darkness**

_(a.n. – Meep? *Looks out from behind chair* Okay, I know I've been starting WAY too much stuff . . . but I wanted to write this . . . so BWAH HAH HAH. ^_^;; Right. Don't know where I got the inspiration for this, but I did. Please, if you read this – review. I like reviews. They make me feel special.)  
_**Disclaimer: ***Cries* I don't own it! I hope you're happy! *Sniffle sniffle*  
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?**_

  
_"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."_

**Malik's POV**

            Ryou Bakura was walking down the paved street, his chocolate eyes downcast and his snow-colored hair was blowing in the wind. His feet were hurriedly carrying him towards the house he shared with his yami; who was a tad bit overprotective of his innocent hikari.

            At this time, however, I did not know who this angel was. I had been sitting in the park, staring at a small pond in the middle of the round common.

I still don't know why I came here; all I wanted to do was run away from it all. I just wanted to go away from everyone that I've ever hurt unintentionally, and to run away from all the memories; the ones I've left behind.

So I've come here – it was as far away from where I came from that I could get with the money I had with me. Therefore, that left me completely broke and sleeping in this park for the last two nights, but I've gotten used to it. Maybe I should plan ahead next time.

That's when I saw him. Hurriedly walking through the park as fast as his legs would carry him. He was so beautiful; almost looked like an angel, except there was no halo hovering over his white hair. But, I told myself that I wouldn't get involved with anyone anymore, because I'd probably end up hurting them.

So that's when it surprised me that the boy wasn't there anymore. He probably walked away when I was spacing out. Then I turned around again and saw him sitting next to me. It was weird, so I yelled out – do you honestly blame me? 

"I, um, couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be sleeping here." The tenshi said softly, pointing to the blanket I had on the bench. 

I blushed a bit. I wasn't used to being in this type of situation. "Um, yeah, kinda. I sort of ran away from home." 

"Oh . . . if you'd like you can stay at my place until you want to go back home." The boy said, smiling.

Damn, this kid was really trusting. 

"I don't think I'm ever going back, and I don't want to be a burden." I said, not really wanting to get close to anyone.

"That's all right – you won't be! At least stay until you figure out what you're going to do." He said, looking at me with those heartfelt, expressive coffee-brown eyes of his.

How could I say no to those eyes?! That kid must always get what he wants with them. He doesn't even seem to realize it, either.

"Fine," I inwardly sighed, "but if I'm getting in the way, you have to let me know." 

"Okay!" The boy smiled again, suddenly more cheerful. 

I put everything I had out in the backpack I had with me, and stood up. He did the same thing, and we both began walking.

"It's not too far from here." He reassured me.

"Okay. So, what's your name? Or do angels not have names, merely pretty faces?" 

Did I actually just SAY that?! IDIOT! Not only did I want to get away from everyone and not get involved with anyone here, I also made a vow to stop using lame pick-up lines.

The boy blushed and looked down at the ground. "I-I don't know a-about angels, b-but my name is Ryou Bakura." He managed to stammer out.

Aw, how cute. I made him uncomfortable. "Well, Ryou Bakura, I'm Malik Ishtar."

"Nice to meet you." He said softly, probably still scared by my remark; I really am an idiot sometimes. 

We're here." Ryou said after a couple of minutes. 

I found myself standing in front of a rather large light blue house. I wondered just how big his family was, to be living in such a large house.

Ryou opened the door with a key that he retrieved from his school bag and let me in.

I expected to hear lots of people talking and running around, or at least SOME sort of commotion, but only silence greeted my ears.

Ryou must have noticed the weird look on my face, for he asked, "Something wrong?"

"Well," I started, "I just expected there to be – um – PEOPLE here because it's such a big house." 

"Oh . . . well, my mom died when I was younger, and my dad is off on an archaeological trip."

"No siblings here with you?" Ryou shook his head. "So then you live all alone?!"

"Um – well. Not really. My dad's home some of the time, and when he's not – my yami's here! Well – he's here all of the time, but -." Ryou rambled, but I stopped listening to him after that.

Did he just say 'his yami'?! Did he actually have one of those hellish creatures with him like I do?! I feel bad for him, then. He seems so vulnerable and helpless, so for him to have a yami . . . 

"Malik?" Ryou asked, interrupting my thoughts. "You okay?" He asked, obviously noticing that I was spaced out.

I blinked, getting out of my trance. "Yeah, I'm fine . . . thanks." 

"Okay then," Ryou smiled, "If you want I can put your stuff in your room for you." 

This kid was actually giving me a room?! I figured I'd just crash on the couch for a little bit.

"Um, you don't have to do that. I can just sleep on the couch or whatever . . ." 

"No, no! That's perfectly all right. After all, there are more than enough rooms in this house." Ryou reassured me as he took my bag from my hand and hurried up the stairs with it.

After standing there for a few minutes, I followed him up there. When I didn't see him anywhere in the hallway upstairs, I took note that he must be in one of the rooms.

"Ryou?!" I called out, not really feeling like going and looking for him.

A white-haired person stepped out of one of the rooms, and I automatically assumed it was Ryou.

"Oh, there you are -." I started, but was never given the chance to finish.

"Who the hell are you?!" The person, whom by now I've established WASN'T Ryou, sneered.

I merely blinked back at him. So this must be Ryou's yami. He didn't look incredibly friendly. Sure, he did resemble the snow-haired tenshi that had taken me in, but his eyes held none of the warmth that Ryou's did. His hair was also a bit more unruly.

"What are you, mute? I asked you a question." This person's voice also wasn't as kind and melodious as Ryou's.

"I-I'm Malik Ishtar." I finally responded, trying to keep my voice calm and even.

Something in yami no Ryou's eyes flickered and he looked stunned for a minute. Wonder why . . . 

"Bakura!" Ryou yelled while coming out of a room far down the hallway. "You aren't giving Malik any trouble, are you?"

"Why is he here?" Bakura, evidently this person's name, asked coldly, never taking his eyes off of me. 

"I'm letting him stay here." Ryou answered simply, and Bakura took his eyes off of me to look at Ryou surprisingly.

"Why would you do a stupid thing like THAT?!"

"Well – I found him in the park, and he doesn't have any place to go, and it's not like this place is exactly crowded . . . it's kind of lonely." Ryou protested. 

"So he's a homeless freak, huh?! And I'm here – are you saying I'm not good company?

"He's not homeless – he just ran away from his home. And you're perfectly great company, but sometimes you treat me like a little kid, and I would like someone my age here."

"How do you know how old he is?! And if I treat you like a little kid, it's just because you're acting like one." He then turned to me and asked, "How old are you?" 

"Um . . . 17." I replied, a little scared of this guy. Not that I'd let anyone know that. After all, courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death. Hmm – I wonder what happens if you get scared to death . . . twice. Oh, right, I'm spacing out again.

"See! He's not the same age as you! He's two years older!" Bakura's shouting brought me out of my trance.

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I meant someone around my age." 

So he was 15. Hmm – I wonder how much of a difference 2 years makes at this age. Ugh – I really need to stop getting so distracted so easily. Oh! Is that something shiny on the end table?

Bakura took turns glaring at both me and Ryou. "Fine." He finally gave in. "He can stay – but if he pisses me off – I'm kicking him out."

"Yay! Thank you Bakura!" Ryou smiled, hugging his darker half, who seemed slightly miffed at the action, but sighed in resignation instead of doing anything.

I was a little surprised at this. I didn't think that lighter and darker halves were supposed to get along. Then again, I've only had one experience with that – and it's mine. Oh well – that's good for Ryou, anyway.

Now that I have a place to settle down in for a little bit, my only problem is trying not to get attached to Ryou. That shouldn't be too hard.

_"Not all those who wander are lost."_

_(a.n. (yes, another one) – Heehee – that was fun to write.__ And in all honesty, I do think that those thoughts COULD be running through Malik-chan's head. Ah well – we shall never know. Anyway – next chapter is Ryou's POV. Yes, I hope everyone reviews this one and comes back for that one. I'm having a ton of fun with this, so I should be updating it fairly soon. Please add the reviews for motivation? *Chibi eyes* I'll give you a plushie!) _


	2. Stranger than Fiction

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Two  
Stranger than Fiction**

_(a.n. – Wahoo!__ I didn't actually expect to get around to writing this so soon. It usually takes me quite a long time to update, actually. But that's okay. I apologize for the format of the last chapter – each paragraph wasn't indented, as I had originally intended – but that's only because Microsoft Word hates me for some strange reason currently, and I still can't figure out why . . . so this chapter is more than likely going to be the same as that . . . *cries* Ah well – it's not too bad, is it? Umm . . . yeah. Second chapter – I hope everyone likes this one.)  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own it. But then again, did I ever __claim to own it?  
**Note: **__This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?_

**Reply to the reviews.  
Cat**: Thank you very much for reviewing, and being the first one at that! I appreciate it.  
**malik'sgurl: **Heehee – thanks for reviewing too. I do appreciate all of these! I didn't expect so many reviews.  
**SilvaraMaxwell: **^_^ I'd have to agree with you on that. Not enough Ryou/Malik. I command everyone to go and write one NOW. ^_^;; Eh, no one ever listens to me anyway. Thanks for reviewing!   
**Elf and Imp: **Continue-ishness? That has got to be the greatest word of all time! Haha – I love it. And I love you for reviewing!   
**Dee-whY-Cee-aRe: **Heh heh . . . as much as we appreciate your speech, o.O I appreciate your review more! Thank you! I did try my hardest to make this somewhat funny. I don't think I'm that humorous, however.  
**mistykasumi****: ^_^ Thank you. I like my quotes too. I have two notebooks FULL of them! Kinda sad, huh?   
**Blood Roses: **Heehee – yeah . . . I'm kinda going somewhere with the whole 'Bakura recognizing his name' thingy. I can't tell you that, though – cause then I'd ruin something for everyone. ^_^;; And I like being mean. Anyway – thanks for the review, and you have a *really* rad penname.   
**Queen of Eternal Darkness: **Heehee – I am continuing. Thanks for the review!   
**Kilandra Yamitea: **o0o0o! I officially think you're great! (Yes, I have a membership card and everything -_-;; ) Thanks for reviewing this story AND my other one. ^_^ And yes – Malik/Ryou *is* the best pairing. **

_And as I promised to everyone . . . PLUSHIES! For your glomping pleasures. Heh – that sounds kind of disturbing, ah well. *Distributes them and gives _**Kilandra Yamitea_ two for being such a wonderful person and reviewing something ELSE of mine* _**

_Eh – sorry that was so long – "ON WITH THE STORY!" Cried the purple riceball. O.o (Please . . . don't ask. Even I don't know where I come up with all of this stuff. Quite scary, actually. I could be insane and not even know it. ^_^;; )_

_"Of course reality is stranger than fiction; after all, good fiction has to make sense."_

**Ryou's POV**

It's been three days since Malik came to live with me and Bakura. Things have been . . . lively, to say the least. And loud. Not so sure I like the loudness . . . 

"Give me the damn remote." I heard Bakura's voice from the living room.

"Never! This is good stuff!" Came Malik's voice.

"How is Court TV 'good stuff'?" 

"It just IS. People yelling at each other is what I live for."

"You have problems."

If you asked me, I'd say that they both had problems. That's okay though, it makes life interesting, right?

I walked into the living room to try and settle the conflict and to see if anyone needed anything. At the entry door, I had to duck because of a flying vase. Hopping over to catch it, I succeeded. However, I started wobbling, and fell; the vase broke. Screw this – someone was going to pay.

"Would you two SHUT UP?!" I yelled at the screaming pair, and both Malik and Bakura stopped mid-brawl to look at me weirdly.

Malik blinked. "Wow. I didn't think Ryou COULD yell."

"He does if he's pissed off enough." Bakura responded nonchalantly.

I glared at them. "You broke the vase." 

"It was in my way of kicking his ass." Bakura said, pointing to Malik, and I got angrier.

"WHO CARES?!" I screamed, even surprising myself a bit.

Both dumbasses blinked back at me. 

"Sorry, we'll go clean it up." Malik said, as he got up and scuttled to the closet for the broom and dustpan.

"Yeah, Malik'll go and clean it up." Bakura just HAD to go and add his two cents in.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I'LL CLEAN IT UP?! YOU'RE HELPING!" Malik yelled from the hallway as the dustpan came flying into the living room, hitting Bakura over the head and knocking a lamp over.

That's it! I give up. They can destroy my house all they want. I don't care. 

And after that, I walked up to my room amidst the flying objects. Oh, what the hell am I saying?! I DO CARE! Running back downstairs, I tried to save everything I could.

Ah. After a half hour of that, I finally settled everything. Bakura was sitting in one corner of the room, and Malik in the other. They were glaring at each other, but at least no one was throwing anything.

I was sitting on the couch, reading. I was also eating those chocolates with the cherries inside of them – they're yummy. ^_^

"Ryou . . ." Bakura whined, "Can I have a-"

"-No." I cut him off, knowing that he was going to ask for MY cherry chocolates.

"Not even-"

"-No." I never looked up from my book.

"Just a little-"

"-No."

"How about-"

"-No."

"Can I at least-"

"-No!"

"FINE!" Bakura yelled and finally gave up.

I looked up from my book, giving Malik a 'look' to tell him not to even try it. Miffed that I got disturbed, once everything was quiet again, I went back to reading.

Ah. How I love silence. It's so nice. It gets you thinking about things that you though only rocket scientists ponder. It-

"AAAHHHHH!" Malik's scream broke my thoughts about thinking.

I glared at him.

"What the hell is your problem?" Bakura asked, still obviously pissed off that I wouldn't give him one of my chocolates.

"There's a spider! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" Malik yelled, and was about to get up and run away, but I stopped him.

"If you get up, I'll make you sit there longer." 

"But that's not fair! There's a SPIDER hanging down from the ceiling – LOOKING AT ME!" I'm sure it wasn't looking at him, but all the same – he believed it was.

"You broke everything in my living room!"

That did the trick. Malik didn't bother responding, he just glared – his eye twitching – at the spider.

After a few more minutes of silence, Bakura thought that it would be FUN to piss me off some more by talking.

"Eat it." 

Both Malik and I looked at him questioningly.

"If you don't like the damn spider being there so much – eat it."

"HELL NO!" Malik screeched. I don't know if I can take much more of this.

"Fine," I resigned, putting my book down. "You win. You two don't have to sit there anymore. Malik, you can run away from the spider, and Bakura, you can have a chocolate." I sighed, and walked towards the hallway.

Bakura was elated, and pranced over to the box, while Malik looked worriedly after me. Wonder why. 

I went up to my room and lay down on my bed. I should probably be doing my homework – but I don't really feel like it. After a few more minutes, I heard my bedroom door slide open.

"Ryou?" It was Malik's voice, only it was softer than usual.

"Hm?" I questioned him with a simple phrase, looking over at him and sitting up.

"I'm sorry." He said, sitting next to me on my bed.

I blinked. I wonder if I made him feel like he did something terribly wrong and that I was going to kick him out. Oh, that would be terrible!

"Oh, no – it's fine, really. I wasn't that mad," I laughed, "and plus – I found out something funny."

"What's that?" Malik looked genuinely confused.

"You have arachnophobia." I giggled. 

He glared at me. "That's not funny! It's a serious medical condition!"

"That's not a medical condition!"

He pouted. "I was hoping that you wouldn't know that." 

I laughed some more.

"You know, you're very cute when you laugh." Malik said softly, looking directly into my eyes.

I could feel myself go a brilliant red. There was something in his eyes, though; something I couldn't read.

My eyes went wide as I noticed that his eyes were closed and he was leaning in closer to me. Now what the hell do I do?!

I felt very grateful when he suddenly stopped. What was I supposed to do if he DID kiss me?

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." He stuttered a bit, and pulled away.

He got up to leave, and I suddenly felt bad. Had I made him feel like he shouldn't be doing something?

"Wait!" I called out, wanting to straighten some things out, "You don't have to leave." 

"Yeah, I think I do . . . I'll – I'll just be in my room . . ." He said slowly, and I could only watch him leave. 

_"Your life is made up of years that mean nothing, and moments that mean it all." _

_(a.n. – Wahoo!__ Another chapter finished! And it only took me, what? 10 days to update? That's a big accomplishment for me. Heh heh – yes, all of my other stuff remains un-updated. I think it's cause I like this story the most. I'm working on updating them, and then not waiting another month to update again. I wish there were more hours in each day . . . ah well. Please review! I'll stop ranting if you do – if not – I'll rant ON AND ON in your head. Man, that would suck . . .) _


	3. To Wonder

**Show Me the Way from Crazy            
Three  
To Wonder**

_(a.n. – Bwah hah hah. Sorry it took me so long to update. Other fics, school, all the usual suspects of me not updating. I apologize, and will make a sincere effort to update sooner. Hopefully everyone's not mad and will still review. ^_^;; Urm . . . nothing else to say, really, and if I think of anything – I'll put it at the end! Read and review and I'll love you forever!)  
_**Disclaimer:**The usual: 'blah blah blah – I don't own – fuck you all.'  
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?_

**Trei: **Wow . . . you NEED to have those things. I swear, the cherries IN the chocolate are the greatest things EVER. Right . . . I'm done now. Thanks for reviewing!  
**Dreamchaser149: **^_^;; I believe your wish is granted. Read on and find out. Thanks for reviewing!  
**Dawn: **Mm-hmm. He did, and I felt bad writing it. That's when you know something's wrong. ^_^ Thanks for the review.  
**Blue Mediva: **Ehhh . . . dunno what your definition of soon is, but I don't know if this is it. Gomen! *Bows*  
**malik'sgurl:** Yay! A second-time reviewer. I love people like this. *Glomp* ^_^;;  
**Queen of Eternal Darkness: **(I believe) another second-time reviewer! Wahoo! Go me! This rarely ever happens. Thanks!  
**Kilandra Yamitea: **^__^ Another one! (I think – yes, I'm too lazy to go and look) well – thanks!   
**Tofu: **^__^ This is great. Someone whose fanfiction I avidly read, reads mine. It's great and I love it. Thank you.  
**onlyHAUNTED: **Ehh . . . yeah, part of the reason why I wrote that was because there was a spider on _my ceiling and it was really freaking me out. ^_^;; Thanks for reviewing!   
Hope everyone likes this chapter! _

**Key: **//Yami to Hikari//  
/Hikari to Yami/  
  
**Malik's POV  
**_"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; yet they pass by themselves without wondering." _

            After exiting my room, I hurried down the stairs, mumbling, "Baka, baka, baka." Sighing, I reached the bottom.

            "Problems?" Bakura observed from his spot on the TV room couch.

            "Many." 

            "Care to talk about it?"

            "Not with you." I said coldly, and walked into the kitchen.

            I was always hungry when I was sad. Isis told me that it sounded like something a girl would do. She always used to make fun of me. I kind of miss it. And Rishid. Rishid was always a great friend to have around. But I can't go back there, no matter how much I might want to. I just can't.

            //But what happens after you hurt everyone here, too?// A voice in my head taunted.

            /That won't happen! I won't let you!/ I replied, in my thoughts. A while ago I realized that this _thing in my mind could read all of my thoughts. Quite disturbing, to tell you the truth._

            //And what happens when I don't give you a choice? First I think I'll take out that girly-boy you like so much. And then . . . his yami. Face it, Malik, you don't control me. _I control _you_.//_

            I just stood there, shocked. He couldn't hurt Ryou, "Just go away!" I yelled, sinking to the floor.

            Bakura ran into the kitchen, wondering what I had been yelling about.

            I looked up at him, I probably looked so pathetic just kneeling on the floor like that.

            I could tell that Bakura was at a loss of words; he didn't quite know how to phrase his question.

            "I'm fine." I answered the question he never spoke, "I just . . . I just . . . need to be alone for a little while." And with that, I dashed back upstairs to the safety of the room that I had been calling my own for a little while now. Sadly, I wasn't comforted as I sank down on the bed.

            //He thinks you're crazy.//

            /Leave me alone!/

            //Ryou probably does too.//

            /Go away. Go away. Go away . . ./ I chanted in my head as I quietly sobbed into my pillow. I couldn't let him harm anyone, I just couldn't. 

            After a little while, although I didn't really have a good grasp of time, I heard a soft knock at my door.

            "Malik?" The quiet voice that I had come to love so much said gently. 

            I got up, rubbed my eyes free of tears, and slowly opened the door.

            Ryou's eyes were concerned, "Are you all right?" 

            "Yeah," I said hurriedly, faking a smile, "I'm fine – why wouldn't I be?" 

            "Oh . . . Bakura said that you weren't feeling well or whatever. Do you need anything?" He was always so concerned, from what I've observed anyway.

            "No – I'm fine." I replied, lying through my teeth.

            "Well, if you do . . ." 

            "I know where you are." I finished for him, wanting to be alone once more.

            Ryou smiled and gave me a hug. 

            He was actually hugging me. Slowly, I hugged him back warily. He smelt so good. A faint hint of vanilla was on him that you would never have picked up if you weren't this close. I always wanted to smell that. I never wanted to let him go, I just wanted to hold him forever. Have him be mine. I know this probably meant nothing to him, but to me . . . it was bliss. In a few short days, I have fallen in love with someone unattainable. 

            "Malik?" Ryou asked softly, bringing me back to reality. I realized that I was still holding on to him, while his hands were down by his sides.

            "Oh, right," I said, hurriedly taking my hands off from around him. "Gomen." 

            "It's okay," Ryou replied reassuringly, "But are you sure that you are?"

            "Yeah," I said quietly, tears welling up in my eyes once more, "I'm sure." I finished, looking down.

            "Okay . . ." Ryou softly said, leaving and closing the door behind him.

            After he left, the tears fell. I don't know for how long, but I know I stood there, staring at the recently closed door pathetically, for at least a good twenty minutes. 

            Why had the gods allowed me to be like this? I couldn't fall in love with anyone here – especially not Ryou. He's so nice . . . and innocent. I hate the thought of bringing the darkness that follows and envelopes me into his life. I wouldn't be able to live with myself . . .

            Glancing at the clock, I noticed it was a little while before dinnertime. I wondered what Ryou was making tonight – he is such a good cook.

            Deciding to walk downstairs once more, I bumped into Ryou at the bottom.

            "Oh!" Ryou said, smiling and evidently surprised, "I was just about to get you – dinner's ready."

            "We're eating a little earlier than usual?" I questioned, having gotten used to the routine. 

            "Schedules are for the unimaginative." Bakura brushed by us.

            Ryou rolled his eyes, "Sometimes I think he'll make up any excuse to get to eat." 

            "Does he even _need to eat?" I questioned, thinking that my own yami must never eat. Unless he has some food stash with him – somewhere . . ._

            "I don't think so . . . that's the sad part." 

            "Oh, okay." I shrugged, and we both went to the dinner table. Bakura was already there, devouring handfuls of food.

            "Keep that up and you'll choke." Ryou reprimanded, plopping down on his cushioned chair.

            Bakura stopped mid-bite to glare at him, "And who are you, my mother?"     

            I was finding this whole thing quite amusing. I said nothing, but watched the scene while buttering a roll. Perhaps Ryou _is_ a bit motherly, but I think he'd make a better housewife anyway.

            The sudden stop in raised voices, well – one raised voice and one reasonable one, brought be back to the conversation, or lack thereof.

            "So," I said after a little while, trying to break the awkward silence, "Why _are_ we eating early anyway?" 

            "Oh – I figured after this we could go and get you signed up at my school. Tomorrow's Monday, so I'll be going back there again. And I hate leaving you here alone with Bakura so much." 

            "It's not like I'll kill him or anything." Bakura shot back.

            "Yes you will." 

            School?! Why in Ra's name had he mentioned school?! It was hell! I had a private tutor in Egypt and stuff – but _school?! I really don't have a hell of a lot of experience with it – but it's, there's . . . too many __people! Oh, the torture! Maybe Ryou __is evil, after all._

_"Never fear shadows; they simply mean there is a light shining somewhere nearby." _  
  
_(a.n. – Yahoo! Another chapter done. I apologize if no one liked it. This was a serious chapter – I know, but I don't know – I just felt like writing it. The whole plot of this, actually, is pretty angsty and depressing – which is why the genre shall change later on. But for now, for the most part – it's humorous. Hah hah. Next we have Malik's adventures in school. Oh what fun. Read and review and I (might) update sooner!)   
_  
  



	4. Stars in the Sky

**Show Me the Way from Crazy**

**Four**

**Stars in the Sky**

_(a.n. – Hello again!__ I got to updating . . . eh, fairly soon? I know it's not GREAT, but I try . . . give me credit. And the reviews! Wow! I love you all! *Glomp* And because I got so many (not that I'm complaining – I love it) I'm only gonna respond to certain reviews. Sorry everyone. ^_^;; Yeah . . . so um, I hope everyone likes this chapter. I might've been high off incense – I was burning it while this was written – it's some fun stuff. ^.^ Urm, and sorry if this update was longer than expected. I'm currently caught up in a series of books: Sweep. Go check them out if you get a chance.)  
_**Disclaimer: **I don't own . . . you don't sue. Ehh . . . more things I don't own in this chapter. I don't own Chevelle or Pop-Tarts. ^_^;; You should go check out Chevelle though, they kick ass.  
**Note: **_This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?**_

**Rnij and Mysterious A: **Yay! Welcome to the wonderful world of Ryou/Malik-ness. A.K.A. – What _this _certain authoress lives for. Heh heh. And I'm happy that my story's being "passed around" o0o0o – that makes it sound like a slut. Oh well. Glad you like it anyway!  
**Trei****: Aren't those chocolate cherry thingys the BEST?! I love them. I love them more than Ryou . . . wait, I lied. I don't. *Looks down in shame* How could I even suggest such a thing? *Goes off glomping Ryou*  
**_  
  
_**_"There are not enough stars in the sky to hold all of the wishes in the world."  
_**Ryou's****** POV**

I woke up the morning after we got Malik signed up for school to Chevelle yelling at me from across the room. Reluctantly, I got out of bed, trudged across the room and shut off the radio alarm. Then, I trudged back to the welcoming lushness of my bed, pulling the covers up over my head to deflect the glaring sunlight.

          "Ryou! Get up or you'll be late!" Bakura's shout came from downstairs.

          It was this was every morning, or at least every school morning. Bakura evidently doesn't know the meaning of sleep, and relies solely on coffee, and can therefore push me out of bed. 

          A pause. "Are you coming?!"

          "Mmph!" Not so sure if he heard that, but I'm too tired to form any word that exists in any language. 5:45 is such an ungodly time to get up at.

          After taking a quick shower, blow-drying my hair, and changing into my school uniform, I seated myself at the kitchen table. Malik was already there. He didn't look too ecstatic. 

          "Why?"

          "Why _what_?" I asked, taking a bite out of my newly toasted S'mores Pop-Tarts.

          "This is Evil."

          "_What is evil?"_

          "Not _evil, Evil."_

          "I see the difference now." 

          "You're making me go to school.

          "It's the law."

          "Screw the law."

          "I'd rather not."

          Malik raised an eyebrow at me and then turned to Bakura. "Is he always this bitchy in the morning?" Bakura nodded his head. 

          "I heard that." I glared at both of them.

          "We'll give you a medal later." Bakura said.

          "Shut up." I glared at him more.

          "Make me."

          "It's sad that you're supposed to be the mature adult figure here." Malik's comment was directed towards Bakura.

          Bakura, in turn, glared at him. "Well, I guess it's time for you to go to school."

          "Evil." I heard Malik mutter.

          "So how do we get there?" Malik asked as we were standing outside.

          "We walk." I replied, and noticed the look of horror on his face.

          "Walk?! How long does it take to get there?!" 

          "Maybe twenty minutes – tops." 

          Malik gasped.

          "What?" I asked, looking at him strangely, "Never had to walk anywhere before?" 

          "Well – I have . . . but why waste so much effort to get somewhere so EVIL?!"

          I sighed in resignation. Malik was never going to like school.

          "Hey Ryou-kun . . . person I don't know." Jou said as I saw him come up to us.

          "Konnichi wa Jounouchi-kun! And this is Malik-kun!" I said, pointing to him, "He's the person I was telling you about." 

          "Ahh . . ." Was Jou's only response. 

          Next Anzu came up to us. I don't really think Malik's going to like her much . . .

          "Who are you?" She asked Malik, somewhat bluntly.

          "I don't know, who are _you_?" 

          Way to answer a question . . . hope he doesn't go around saying that one all day. Sighing, I decided to answer for him. "Anzu, this is Malik." 

          "Oh! Malik! I'm sure that we'll become _great, great friends!" Anzu said, a little _too_ brightly._

          Malik just stared at her. I was right; he doesn't like her.

          "Konnichi wa minna-san!" I heard Yuugi's voice. 

          Once more, I introduced Malik, only this time to my vertically challenged friend with tri-colored hair . . . maybe I should pay more attention to the people I hang out with. Most of them have something wrong with them or whatever. Hmm . . . I wonder if that means I have some sort of weird disorder too.

          "Where's Honda?" Yuugi asked, looking in the general direction he usually came from.

          "Told me he wasn't coming today," Jou shrugged, "I think he's skipping."

          "I'd like to skip . . ." I heard Malik mutter, and I glanced over at him accusingly. He just looked back at me with a look that plainly read, 'What did I do?' 

          When the bell rang for homeroom, everyone was situated in their seats, and I glanced over at Malik. He didn't seem too pleased even now. 

          "Now," the sensei began, after reading off the list of morning announcements, "We have a new student with us today." She then turned to Malik, "Please come to the front of the room." 

          I could sense his annoyance as he sauntered up to the front.

          "This is Ishtar Malik." 

          "Konnichi wa Malik-kun." The class echoed dully, and I was strangely reminded of a kindergarten classroom.

          The majority of the class stared at Malik. I don't blame them; after all, he was so . . . exotic looking. With his tan skin, blonde hair in contradiction to that, and pale lavender eyes, I probably would have stared if I had only seen him for the first time. Wait . . . what am I even talking about? 

          My thoughts were interrupted by the sensei speaking again, "Well," She said expectantly, "Ishtar-san, do you have anything to say to the class?"

          Malik, of course, was blankly staring back at all of the people.

          I could barely hear a "no" escape his lips right was the bell rang. Kami-sama, that worked out for him . . .

          On my way to first period, which sadly, Malik had a slightly different schedule than me, so we didn't have this class together, I heard some girls talking near the lockers.

          "Oh! Have you seen that new kid in class 1-D?" One of them asked. 

          "Yeah!" A brunette responded, "He's really hot – so . . . different from people you see here. I wonder where he's from . . . and if I have a chance with him!"

          "I think he's from Egypt." The last of their trio responded. 

          I felt a pang of jealousy course through my veins, and I wondered why. Was I jealous because those girls had a better chance with Malik than I did? No, I didn't feel that way . . . did I?

          Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I continued on my way to Geometry.

          I felt happier when second period rolled around. I hated having Math first, and now I get to see Malik. Maybe now I'll have a lab partner . . . 

          Sure enough, Malik turned out to be my lab partner. I was usually ignored in school, probably because I was so quiet, but it's better than getting beat up or something. And that's probably the reason why I didn't have a lab partner to begin with.

          "So what are we doing, anyway?" Malik whispered to me while the sensei droned on about chemical bonds.

          "Chemistry." I replied in a hushed voice.

          "Cool!" I saw his face light up, "Does that mean that we get to blow stuff up?"

          "No!" 

          "Damn . . ." He whined.

          During the last half of the class, we were mixing elements together to make compounds, and Malik was having the time of his life. I'm a bit scared now . . .

          As I was slowly inching away from the table, I saw Malik adding two things that weren't supposed to be mixed into the same vile. 

          "No, Malik, I wouldn't - ," I tried warning him, but alas, it was too late. He had already added it. Life as we know it has just ended. Head for the hills.

          The compound had sent a sort of chain reaction of explosions, and when the smoke cleared, I noticed Malik was sitting there with a look of pure contentment on his face. Luckily no one got hurt . . .

          The evacuation bell had begun to ring, and everyone trampled on each other to get out of the lab.

          "Come on Malik, let's go." I said, pulling on his arm.

          He once again gave me the innocent 'what did I do?' look. He was right . . . we _did get to blow stuff up . . . Kami-sama . . ._

_"Insanity – a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world."_

_(a.n. – Bwah hah hah.__ That was fun. I know, I'm a little weird – leave me alone. Right. So I'm not that good with Japanese, hell, I'm learning it on my own – as I'm sure many ff.net anime authors are. Anycrap, sorry if I got anything wrong, feel free to correct me. Bwah. Yes, so urm . . . got this done. Woot. And it didn't take me a month. Woot. So please read and review and then I'll update soon!) _

**_Other Note: _**Gah! FanFiction.net just put up a notice saying that most of the reviews on June 4th have been lost. That's when I posted this. And since I only got one review, I'm (hoping) that they got deleted. Yeah, so I'm re-posting this. If I still get one review, that's okay too. Thanks and sorry to that one person who reviewed! 


	5. Never an Assurance

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Five  
Never an Assurance**

_(a.n. – Woot woot. Back with the 5th chapter. This is honestly the most successful piece of work that I ever written. Thank you so much for all of the responses. I love all of you reviewers. *Glomp* Yeah – and don't expect any more updates until AFTER the 23rd (of June) because I have finals coming up and I do greatly need to pass them. You all should feel special. I wrote this while I was supposed to be taking science notes. (I'd much rather write this, anyway.) ^_^;; Yeah. So – um . . . I think that's it. ^.^) _**  
****Disclaimer: **I'm too tired to come up with anything creative today, so: I don't own it. ^_^;; Gomen everyone.  
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?  
**Key: **The usual.  
//Yami to Hikari//  
/Hikari to Yami/_

**Notice to all reviewers: **BWAH! I love you all so, so much. Especially you that reviewed when all of the reviews were getting deleted. I appreciate it lots. Ta. ^.^ __

_"Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their hearts. But if it doesn't, just be glad it grew in yours."_

**Malik's POV**

          Why does everyone care so much? It was only a chemistry lab, and no one got hurt. The kids weren't so mad; they got a day off of school. The teachers were the ones getting all anal about it.

          Currently I was in the office of Domino High School. The "officials" were deciding what to do with me. Personally, I think that they only got their positions because they knew somebody. They really are quite stupid.

          //Want me to get rid of them for you?//

          Crap. He was back when I was in school. This probably wouldn't lead up to a good thing.

          /Go away./

          //Why should I? Don't you _want_ me to get rid of them for you?//

          /Not in the way you plan to do it./

          //Well, fine.//

          And after that he was gone. I don't understand why he left so easily; it usually takes a lot more than that to get rid of him. I'm not sure whether or not I should be relieved about this or scared of what he might do later on.

          "Ishtar-san." The voice of the vice principal brought be back to being in tune with my surroundings.

          "Hai?" I replied idly, wanting to get the hell out of this place.

          "We have decided that since today was only your first day here and you've only been home schooled before, you weren't fully aware of your actions,"

          What the hell is he babbling about? I knew damn well what I was doing.

          He paused, searching me as if by doing so he could tell if I was paying attention. My lavender eyes never left their narrowed state, so I was focusing on one thing; glaring at him. 

          He coughed a bit and continued. "In analyzing this information, we have decided not to punish you, but instead to simply _watch_ you. So make sure that you're on your best behavior the next couple of weeks. But I'm sure that you will be anyway."

          Yeah, sure, whatever. In one ear and out the other. Well-behaved people never made history, anyway.

          "You are free to leave." He sighed, probably knowing by now that I didn't care _what the hell he said. _

          Hm – damn. It would have been funny if I had gotten expelled on my very first day. And I wouldn't have to go to such an Evil place anymore.

          Walking out the door without so much as a 'goodbye,' I made my way back to Ryou's house. When I arrived, his nerves seemed quite frazzled. 

          "I'm sorry! I should have told you not to do that or something!" This kid realizes it's not his fault, right?

          "Its fine; not your fault at all." I might as well reassure him anyway.

          "You didn't get in much trouble, did you?" Ryou asked, his eyes still wide with worry.

          "Nah. I'm just going to be "monitored" the next couple of weeks." 

          "Oh – well, that's good. Just don't do anything wrong then."

          I pouted. Was I really expected to be a goody-two-shoes? "But that's no fun!" 

          Ryou sighed, "You don't want to be expelled, do you?"

          "I wouldn't care. No more crap from that place if I do." I shrugged. Who really wanted to spend six hours a day in a hell hole? 

          "Fine. Do whatever you want. But I'll be sad if you leave me all alone in school." Ryou pouted, his eyes downcast. 

          He looked extremely cute like that. It's really too bad that I have so much to worry about when I get close to people.

          Fine. I'll _try this thing. For him. "Okay – maybe I'll try it for a little while. No promises, though."_

          Ryou beamed. He looks cute when he's happy, too. "That's good to hear. Now why don't we go and do homework?" 

          Homework?! Damn it all . . .

          It was after dinner and I was lounging around in the living room on the blue plush couch, reading some boring classic book that I was assigned in Literature class.

          Bakura was sitting in the corner in a reclining rocking chair, doing nothing but staring into space, looking quite pensive. Ryou was up in his room, working on some extra credit project; like he needs it. I couldn't be bothered.

          I turned a page, Bakura's head turned up from its downward position and I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head, even though I hadn't lifted my eyes from the tiny, black text. 

          "Yes?" The question was directed towards Bakura. 

          "You have a hard time saying no to Ryou." He stated bluntly, and I wondered what the _hell brought that up._

          "So?" I questioned defensively, "You do too!"

          "It's an instinct of mine as his yami to take care of him." 

          "Well – I'm just being nice to him and everything because he was kind enough to let me stay here." There was no way I was telling him the _real reason, even though I wanted to tell someone so badly._

          "Is that all?" Bakura raised a questioning eyebrow.

          "Yep." I stated simply, trying not to seem too suspicious.

          "Mm-hmm . . ." Bakura's voice trailed off, and he got up to exit the room.

          "It's just that . . ." I began, and he stopped at the doorframe, turning around to look at me. "I look at him, and he looks back at me with his beautiful eyes and smile, and it pathetically makes my day." I had to tell _someone. _Granted, Bakura might kill me because of it, but I couldn't keep it inside for much longer. 

          "So you like him?" He asked, and his voice was surprisingly calm.

          "Well, yeah. It's hard not to . . ." 

          "So it would seem." 

          "But – I can't . . ." My voice grew quiet and soon after was silenced as the sentence diminished. 

          "Why not?" Bakura seemed to have heard my unspoken words. 

          "Because . . . because he's too pure, and I don't want to be the one to taint him. I'd hurt him too much, and if I hurt him . . . I couldn't live with myself." I confessed and the room was so quiet you could have probably heard a pin drop.

          "If you care that much about him . . . it should be evident that you're meant to be together." Bakura said softly, and I looked at him in shock.

_"You ever feel like the world's a giant game of musical chairs and the music has stopped and we're the only ones without chairs?" _

_(a.n. – Yay. That's all for chapter 5. Expect the chapters to be coming a lot faster when I'm out of school. I plan on having one for you guys the 24th. As a cool 'I'M OUT OF SCHOOL – YAY!' celebration. Heh heh – right. Anyway, that was incredibly fluffy. I didn't even know I could write such stuff. I hope everyone liked this. Please read and review!)_


	6. The Most to Say

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Six  
The Most to Say**

_(a.n. – WAHOO! I'm out of school. . . for about two months. That's it. I hate it. I hate school. But that's okay! Maybe I'll finish this whole thing in the summer. Who knows, I don't even know where the hell I'm going with it. But thanks to everyone for reviewing. ^_^ It makes me happy. It's also quite hot. -_- *Dies* So for all I know – this chapter is a result of a heat stroke. Don't blame me – blame the heat!)   
_**Disclaimer: ***Insert witty disclaimer here*   
**Note: **_This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?  
**Key: **Herm. In this chapter – it's:  
\Ryou to Bakura\  
\\Bakura to Ryou\\_

**_Reply to the Reviews: (Yay! I now have 73! Ta heaps!)  
_****Ice Puppet: **Heh heh. I can't give away anything, now can I? But you're kind of on the right track.  
**Dark Millenia: **Sorry this isn't exactly the 24th. I tried, I honestly did. But I was also writing my entry for a fanfiction contest. This is close enough – right?  
**Sozuki: **Heh heh. Did you really go looking for that long? That's insane. But I appreciate it. So thanks! ^_^  
**Katia: **WHEEE! *Glomps the plushie* Yay! Ta! ^.^ *The chocolate's already gone* ^_^;;

_"He who is quietest, often had the most to say."_

**Ryou's POV**

          There. It's almost perfect. Sometimes extra credit can be quite annoying and then you don't even get enough credit for it, but I always do them anyway. I'm not so sure why . . .

          I wonder what Malik's doing . . . last time I checked he was reading on the couch. I still feel guilty about getting him in trouble; I should have said something. I hope he's not mad at me. Lately I've been thinking about him a lot. I'm not so sure why, but I think I've grown quite fond of him. Wonder how he feels . . . 

          Maybe I should go down there. It's probably not safe to leave him and Bakura alone for too long. They're so much alike they're bound to fight. 

          Putting my 3D periodic table project aside, I exited my room and bounded down the stairs. I noticed that Bakura was walking from the living room. 

          "Is Malik still in there?" I asked him, and he nodded silently. I wonder if something's wrong with him. "Everything okay?" 

          "Everything's fine. I'm just having trouble dealing with the fact that soon enough, you won't come to me for solutions to your problems."

          What is he talking about? Of course I'll always come to him to talk to. He's my _yami; the only one who knows everything about me. I was about to say something, but he was off; meandering towards the basement. _

          I hope I didn't insult him or anything . . . 

          \Bakura? Are you mad at me?\ I tried the mind link.

          \\No, not mad at all.\\ I heard his response, and then he cut off the link.

          I couldn't really tell is he was telling me the truth or not. Oh well, I'll talk to him in a little while, and he'll tell me eventually.

          So I went into the living room. Malik was just sitting on the couch, staring into space. 

          "Malik-kun?" He snapped out of his trance.

          "Oh – hey, Ryou." A slight pink tinge appeared on his cheeks.

          "Do you know what's wrong with Bakura?" I asked, thinking maybe he would know.

          "There's something wrong with Bakura?"

          "Yeah, he was acting weird and now he won't talk to me. Something about how in a little while, he won't be the one I turn to for my problems."

          Malik looked a little shocked, but the emotion was only there for a quick moment and then it was gone. I'm not even sure if it was there, thinking about it.

          "Oh. I don't know what's wrong with him, but I'm sure it'll all come out in the wash." He reassured me, and I hoped that he was right. I hate it when people are upset with me.

          "Mm – I hope so . . ." I mumbled, staring at Malik. He was so perfect in every way. The light from the floor lamp hit his sun-kissed hair in a way that made it shine. His skin was the perfect mocha color, which made his hair stand out all the more. And as if to emphasize his exotic appearance, he had those beautiful lavender eyes that sometimes even changed color with his mood. I've noticed so many things about him . . . I wonder if it's growing into an obsession. 

          "Ryou . . .?" Malik asked tentatively, looking at me warily and breaking me away from the sight that I was drinking up.

          "Yes?" I replied, wondering what he wanted.

          "Would you maybe want to – to," He started, seeming quite nervous. It's hard to believe that someone usually so nonchalant could get nervous. "Um – would you maybe want to show me around the city over the weekend?"

          Was that all he wanted to ask me? That's really nothing to be nervous about. I think he already knows that I will. He knows that I do absolutely nothing almost every single day of the week. Still, I might as well answer him.

          "Of course I will. It's kind of a big city though . . . so it might take the two days." I replied, smiling.

          "Oh! If you have anything to do over the weekend, you don't have to . . ." He started, but I cut him off.

          "Nope. I'm free; don't worry about it."

          He looked distraught somehow, that he was somehow angry with himself about something. I wonder if he really wanted to talk about something else with me.

          "So . . ." I said, trying to fill in the crevice of silence that was slowly closing in on us.

          "So." He said with an air of finality, and then the silence came once more.

          But this time it was a comfortable silence. One that if filled with anything else, would not have felt right. Everything just felt . . . right at that moment. I was glad that Malik was here; glad that he was now a part of my life. I never wanted him to leave, although I'm sure he'd have to eventually.

          Right now, the only thing I wanted to do was curl up against him; lean my head up against his chest and listen to his heart beating. I wanted to know that he was for real, and not some walking dream that would fade the minute my alarm clock brought the horrors of the real world back to me.

          I wonder how he tasted. Truthfully, I've never kissed anyone in my life, so I had no idea how _anyone tasted. I hadn't even dated anyone. No, I'm too shy for that._

          And yet, I found myself longing for Malik. It was something in between lust and true love. It was too real and deep to be called lust, and yet so unreal and just a tad too shallow to be called true love. After all, I was admiring from afar.

          Is this where I take a rain check from the real world and go completely into this dream world that is entirely Malik-centric? Personally, I would go only willingly. Whether this Dream God accepts me or not is entirely undecided. I doubt he would though.

          "I – um, I'm gonna go finish my project." I mumbled, going to exit the room.

          "Okay. If I don't talk to you before you go to bed – sweet dreams."

          They'll only be about you; of course they'll be sweet. "You too."

          And with that, I hurried up to my room. I looked over at my unfinished project and decided to put it off a night. It could wait.

          I stared at myself in the mirror. No, he would never want me the way I wanted him. Hell, he can get any _girl _he wanted; so why would he consider me?

          My white hair hung limply around my shoulders. My eyes reminded me so much of small pools of mud. Nope, there was nothing special about me. My _personality was even boring. I really did nothing, just sat around and did all of my homework like a good boy. He would probably want someone more exciting in his life. _

          Yes, so for now I'll remain in my dream world. Where Malik loves me and holds me whenever I need to be comforted. He kisses away all of my tears and makes my loneliness dissipate. This is my dream world. Please . . . no one wake me up. 

_"Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale."_

_(a.n. – Bwah hah hah. And so ends the sixth chapter. Wow – I'm getting far. ^_^ Thanks to the reviewers – I'm only continuing because of you. Blah. It was kind of short though. Hopefully you'll all find kindness in your hearts and forgive me. And just to clear something up, Bakura does NOT like Ryou in that way. He's just over-protective of him because he's his hikari. ^.^ Yes – so please review. All flames will . . . aw, fuck. I hope I get no flames. It's already too hot. *Dies of heat stroke*)  _


	7. Those Who Cry

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Seven  
Those Who Cry**

_(a.n. – OH YAY!__ I'm back. Sorry it took me a sort-of-while to get this chapter uploaded. It's kind of soon for my slowness – but some authors update very quickly. I don't know how you people do it. All the same, this is the next chapter. It's kind of weird. I don't know what I was on when I wrote it. Kidding, I don't do drugs. So yes – this chapter. Number seven. The furthest I've ever gotten. THANK YOU ALL!)  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own. If you feel the need to sue: go for it, love. Can't guarantee you'll get anything worth having though.  
**Note:** __This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?  
**Key: **Again, as usual.  
//Yami no Malik to Malik//  
/Malik to Yami no Malik/  
\\Yami no Bakura to Ryou\\  
\Ryou to Yami no Bakura\  
Ignore the weird references to the yamis. I like saying it like that. ^_^;;  
  
**Review Replies: **(89?! Goddess, I feel so special. ^_^)  
**Evaru: **I would want Ryou around 24/7. Heehee. I have beautifully detailed plans to kidnap him one day. Now – it might just help if he didn't only exist in the pictures on my wall or on the TV. ^_^;;  
**Assassin of the Shadows: **Ehhh . . . some of this is loosely based on my feelings. And Yay! Cookie! *Runs off glomping it* Ta for being added to the list.   
**Kilandra Yamitea: **Haha, it's okay if you don't get around to reviewing. I'm not going to send hate mail to anyone. People have busy lives . . . maybe now people won't be mad about my delayed reactions in updating?_

_"Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the importance of the people who have touched their lives."_

**Malik's POV**

Idiot! "Can you show me around the city?" What kind of _lame question is that? Oh well. For some reason . . . when I was _actually _going to tell Ryou about how I felt, I froze. That's never happened to me before. When did I get so damn shy? _

            Oh well. Maybe when he's showing me around I might be able to tell him. I wish that he was mine right now. It takes lots of self-control, something I could use more of, to be able to sit next to him and not want to pounce on him and ravish his mouth with kisses. 

            Out of the corner of my eye I saw white hair pass by. My lips formed a smile, because my thoughts were that it was Ryou. But when I turned to face the door, I noticed that it was Bakura who had passed by. Ryou did say that he was acting weird . . .

            "Bakura!" I eventually called out. I heard a grumble from the other side of the wall, and then he backtracked into the living room.

            "What?" He asked in a tone of annoyance.

            "Are you mad at me?" 

            He rolled his eyes. "Gods, now you sound like Ryou. I'm not mad at you _or _him." 

            "Well – he just said that you were acting weird . . . so I thought it might have something to do with . . ."

            "I don't have much of a problem with you liking Ryou," He interrupted me, and I cringed. I seriously hope Ryou didn't hear that. "I guess . . . I'm just over protective of him because he's my hikari and all."

            So he thought that being a yami meant being nice to his hikari. Well _my _yami doesn't think like that; I wish he did though. 

            //Wishes get you nowhere and dreaming is for fools.//

            /I'm not in the mood to deal with you./ I mentally sighed.

            //Now, now,// I could just _feel _his voice dripping with mockery. //You better be nice to me or else I'll kill them both tonight.//

            I sighed. Was I ever really going to get rid of him? I saw Bakura staring at me weirdly.

            "Oh – sorry," I said hurriedly, "I was just zoning out . . . again." 

            "Mm-hmm . . ." 

            "Well – I guess I'll be going to bed now." I said and then dashed up the stairs. I could still feel Bakura's questioning eyes on me until I was safely in my room,

            Oh, what the hell was I going to do? I flopped down on the bed. I can't tell Ryou how I feel. If for some weird reason he _did _want to date me, I'd have to save him from myself. 

            //You have to save him from yourself anyway . . .//

            Ah. The weekend. Finally here. I have grown to live for these two short days. No school. And this weekend Ryou was supposed to take me out. I grinned at the thought of it almost sounding like a date.

            While I was waiting downstairs for Ryou to come down, I was aimlessly walking about the hallways. His house was quite large. I had reached a part of the house, the back of the house to be more exact, that I wasn't too familiar with.

            I was passing by a room that looked quite untouched, yet had lots of things in it – like someone had once lived there – when I noticed a large floor-to-ceiling mirror. Quietly walking up to it, I pressed my hand against the cool glass.

            I've never seen anything quite like it before. It was beautiful; breathtaking. As soon as I saw my own reflection in it, the image became distorted. 

            _I saw myself, but differently this time. Ryou was with me, and he was smiling; looking like the happiest person alive. We were sitting on the front hall steps, simply enjoying each other's company._

_            I leaned down and placed a quick kiss on Ryou's lips, and he looked even happier than before; I didn't think that was possible. Now I knew this had to be a dream in the waking state._

_            But the dream went away and turned into something else. The image of me and Ryou sitting together was changed into a scene of despair. Ryou was backed up against a wall, begging me to do something, but I couldn't hear him._

_            I saw the other me, the person who is inside me and taunts me each passing day, advancing on poor Ryou with that evil glint in his eyes. He pulled out a dagger, the one from the Sennen Rod, and brought it up to Ryou's neck._

_            I couldn't do anything to stop him as the tears flowed freely down Ryou's flawless face. He had taken over my body, and I was powerless to do anything that would stop him. _

_            My yami dragged the knife along Ryou's neck; slitting his throat. Ryou fell to the floor, slowly dying with every second that passed. After He made sure that Ryou was dead, he let me back in control of my body._

_            My hands . . . they were covered in the blood of my koi. And I was falling, falling . . . _

"Malik? Are you okay?"

            I snapped back into reality. I was on my knees, hand still pressed against the mirror, although the glass no longer felt cool at touch. Again, my own scared looking reflection greeted me, no disturbing images, and I could see Ryou behind me. His concern was evident in his eyes.

            "I-I'm fine. I don't know what happened . . ." I said slowly, standing up and going to Ryou's side.

            When we were back out in the hallway, Ryou spoke quietly, "That room . . . it was my mom's. I haven't really been in there since a long time ago." 

            Ryou had told me not too long after I came here that his mother had died when he was younger, along with his sister. 

            "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been in there. I was just waiting for you to come down, and – and I was just wandering around and I saw the mirror and . . ." 

            "It's quite all right," Ryou cut off my stuttering excuse, smiling, "You can go in there whenever you want. It's not restricted or anything."

            "O-okay . . ." After that whole thing with the mirror, I'm not sure if I _want_ to go back in there. But that could have easily been my yami's doing. 

            "Ready to go?" Ryou asked, and I nodded. Then we headed out the door.

            "What do you want to do now?" Ryou asked me as we were sitting at an outside café.

            We had already gone to the museum, the mall, some historic landmarks, and some other places. 

            "You know this place better than I do." I replied, looking around a bit.

            "Okay . . .  how about we go see a movie to rest from all of the walking we've been doing?" Ryou suggested.

            Hmm. Movies. They're dark. And a good place for making out. And if you sit in the back, no one will notice you doing anything. Damn. But if he wants popcorn or something, then it'll spill. Oh fuck, what the hell am I thinking?! I mentally slapped myself. I can't rape Ryou in a movie theatre!

            "Sure." I responded after that insane train of thought.

            We were now maybe half an hour into the movie. It was some action thing; I wasn't really paying attention. How could I when I had the world's cutest bishounen sitting next to me? Hell, the fact that our arms were touching on the armrest was putting me into a state of bliss.

            Ryou had wanted to sit in the middle, because "that's where the best seats are." Yeah. _If you want to watch the movie. He had also gotten popcorn and a slushie thing. That ruins my plans. Yeah, I know I said I wouldn't rape Ryou, put I was considering my options. _

            His eyes were concentrated on the screen, and his hand went up to his mouth every now and then for popcorn. Also, he had this weird habit of leaning down to sip his drink rather than picking it up. When he drank, he'd bite the straw, then take a drink, and then put his tongue over the top of the straw to stop the flow of the blue liquid. How cute. I wonder what he does with blow jobs . . . right. Stopping the perverted thoughts. Yes, I was watching Ryou instead of the movie.

            I leaned in slowly towards him, and if he noticed me, he didn't make any note of it. I was so close I could smell his hair. It smelt quite nice, like peaches and cream.

            No, I couldn't kiss him now. If I did, I don't know if I could stop myself. So I pulled myself away reluctantly, the sweet smell no longer clouding my senses. Oh, how I wish he was mine . . . 

_"It's funny how someone lives each and every day of their life, not knowing that their existence is the reason you live." _

_(a.n. – Wa-hoo.__ Seven down . . . who the hell knows how many to go. I can promise that it'll be many. Meep. I'm happy I got this done in time so I can still go to class. (Night class. Religion. Heehee – don't worry – it's a cool religion: wicca.) So yes . . . bwah. I don't know when I'll post up the next chapter . . . hopefully soon. Please respond to the poll below! And review! (Well . . . respond IN your review.) ^_^;;)_

***Poll*  
**Wheee – yours truly is having trouble figuring out how to end this – not that it's ending anytime soon. So you reviewers – please respond so I know how to.  
Would you like to see:  
**A) **A happy ending?  
Or  
**B) **A sad ending?


	8. Lose Everything

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Eight  
Lose Everything**

_(a.n. – GAH!__ I'm sorry I took so freaking long to write this chapter. Writer's block. -.- Forgive me. But I do still love all of you! *Glomp* And I will make an effort to update sooner and sooner. Now that the summer is here, and I have no more classes – I had to take a couple in the beginning of the summer, don't worry – I didn't fail classes during school or anything – I can update faster. So yeah – I'll stop blabbing and start writing. OH WAIT! The results of the ending are in . . . -.- Everyone went against what I wanted. So I guess it's a happy ending. People can still vote, if they want to. Though, I have an idea that will make everyone happy . . . hopefully.)  
**Disclaimer: ***Looks through lots of legal documents in desk* -.- Damn. Still don't own it.  
**Note:** __This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?  
**Key: **Again, as usual.  
//Yami no Malik to Malik//  
/Malik to Yami no Malik/  
\\Yami no Bakura to Ryou\\  
\Ryou to Yami no Bakura\_  
  
_**Review Replies:  
Kilandra Yamitea: **-.- Malik and Ryou's souls were for sale on Ebay? Dammit. I must have not been on when that auction happened. Oh well. You'll just have to lend them to me sometime. ^_~  
**Chibi B: **Haha. It's okay that you don't review "more often" as you put it. I don't really care how many reviews I get. Although, I'm not complaining that I have so many. ^_^;; As long as at least one person is still interested, I will always continue.  
**alesca**** munroe: Haha, I don't care if you take the quotes. Go for it. I took them from many random sites. Thanks for the reviews. ^_^  
**Blood Roses: **I believe the "evil yami" (that we all – or, maybe it's just me – love) should be coming out in the next couple of chapters.**_

_"To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything."_

**Ryou's POV**

            We just got home from our outing around the city. Quite honestly, I was a little bit nervous. With the whole me liking Malik thing. Luckily, I didn't say or do anything that I would regret. I think I might soon though. I can't keep all of these feelings inside of me for much longer.

            At the movies, I wasn't really paying attention as much as I might have seemed. I just kept on staring at the screen, because I knew that if I didn't, I'd end up staring at Malik.

            From the corner of my eye, I thought that Malik kept on staring at me, and once I thought I saw him lean in really close to me. Of course, I was probably just wishing things.

            Currently, I was sitting on my bed, while Malik had wandered off into the kitchen, claiming that the frying pans hanging from the wall were "shiny." Sometimes I question his sanity. But that's okay, I still love him.

            I wish that I could just walk up to him, build up a ton of courage, and just tell him how I feel. Then I'd hold his face and kiss him deeply. But I could never do that. I guess I'm too shy to do something like that.

            But I can't just sit here. I need to do _something_, but I don't know what . . . maybe Malik will do something? No, he doesn't even like me.

            Sighing, I laid on my back discontentedly. Why was I born with no courage? Malik seems to have so much . . . I admire him. But more than that, I want to be with him.

            After lying in bed for an hour at the very least, I heard a tapping at my door. Going to it and opening it, I saw Malik standing there.

            I could _feel the color rising to my cheeks, and knew that wasn't a good sign. I have such pale skin, I'm sure that it showed up greatly whenever I blushed. I bowed my head downwards, so Malik wouldn't notice the red creeping up on my cheeks. _

            "Um . . . hello Malik-kun." I said quietly, not even daring to raise my eyes.

            "Hey Ry. I just wanted to let you know that dinner was ready." Hm. He called me Ry. He's been doing that for a little while now. Maybe it's something like a pet name! That would be nice, but I'm probably just going back to wishing again.

            Wait . . . he said dinner was ready? I looked up in shock. I had totally forgotten about dinner! But then, how was it cooked?

            "Wha . . ? How . . ?" I managed to say through my confusion.

            "Oh – I noticed that you were up here, and when I peeked in it looked like you were sleeping, so I didn't want to wake you up. Turns out, Bakura eventually wanted to eat, so he made dinner." 

            I merely blinked at him. Bakura . . . made something edible? He can't even toast Pop-Tarts without horribly burning them! And the one attempt where I showed him how to use the oven, he managed to light a part of the kitchen on fire.

            "O-okay. And the house is still standing upright?" I questioned, scared of what the bottom half of the house would look like.

            Malik laughed. "He can't be that bad of a cook, can he? The kitchen looked fine to me." 

            "Well, that's good," I breathed a sigh of relief, "Let's go down then."

            When myself and Malik reached the dining room, I sat down at my seat and stared at the plate of food in front of me.

            First I glanced over at the bowl of rice that was to the side of my plate. It looked innocent enough . . . okay, so the rice was okay. But then again, how do you fuck up with rice? Just to make sure, I dug my fork into the bowl the make sure that nothing was wrong with the rest of it. Then I looked over at the plate. Spaghetti and meatballs. Hm. I guess that's kind of hard to screw up, too. I took the fork again, and poked at the meatball. It _seemed cooked enough. Then I took the knife and cut it through the center. There was nothing wrong with it. Thank God._

            Looking up, I noticed Bakura glaring at me. "Does it pass your inspection, Chef Ryou?" He asked bitterly, and I saw Malik try to hide a smile out of the corner of my eye.

            "Well," I started to defend myself, "The last time I tried to teach you how to cook, you almost lit the whole kitchen on fire." 

            He kept on glaring at me, but didn't say anything back.

            In the middle of dinner, the phone rang. I stood up to get it, figuring it was Yuugi or someone from school.

            "Moshi moshi." I said into the receiver.

            "Hello, Ryou." I almost dropped the phone. It was my dad. He never called me when he was away. Hell, he barely talked to me when he was home. I guess he started avoiding me after Mom and Amane died. I guess I do look a lot like Mom . . .

            "Wha – I – urm – hey, Dad." I said slowly, still shocked. _Why was he calling me?_

            "So – how have you been; how's school?"

            I blinked a bit. Why was he asking me these things? Usually he didn't even eat _dinner _with me. Bakura was the only source of communication; the only one that kept me sane. 

            "Dad . . . why are you calling?"

            "Can't I call to see how my son is?" He paused for a minute, and then sighed. "Okay. I'm coming home tomorrow and . . . well; I just thought that you should know." 

            I already knew that he was coming home. I know he won't mind Malik; he'll ignore him too. He barely even took note when Bakura started walking around the house. Or when he blew stuff up, for that matter. Unlike my dad, I remember things . . . like birthdays.

            "Um – well – okay . . . I knew that, you told me before you left." I finally replied, hoping to get back to my dinner before it was cold.

            "I heard something from one of my friends," He started. That was just like him, calling his friends and not his son. "Do you have any visitors?"

            Oh. So apparently someone had seen Malik around. No big deal. "Oh – yeah, just a friend." I replied.

            "Oh . . . have I ever met him?" Why is he asking this? I don't think he's met _any _of my friends, for lack of not being around.

            "No. He's just hanging out here for a little while. We haven't broken anything or had any parties, if that's what you're worried about." I added hastily, thinking that was probably what he was worried about.

            He sighed, and I sensed a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, and we'll talk about this then." He finished, and hung up the phone without a good-bye. Typical.

            I sighed and hung up the phone too. I don't know why he was so mad. He'd probably go out before he went home, get drunk, and then forget about the whole thing. Going back into the dining room, I sat back down and ate a bit more of my meal. Blah. It was cold.

            "Who was on the phone?" Bakura asked.

            "Wrong number." I replied, not wanting to explain the whole thing in front of Malik.

            Both Malik and Bakura looked at me a little disbelievingly. I _did _spend a long time on the phone.

            \I'll tell you later.\ I said to Bakura through our mind link.

            That settled the confusion with Bakura. Malik still looked a little skeptical, but he didn't press further on the subject. 

            After supper, we were all just lounging around in the living room. The TV was on and one of those stupid humor sitcoms that Bakura loves so much was on the screen.

            I was merely staring at the TV, not really taking anything in. I was fully aware of the Egyptian beauty sitting about an inch or two away from me. How nice it would be to curl up against him and have him hold me all through the night. 

            When the stupid show was over, I saw Bakura look over at me and Malik. He got a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, one that was so notorious with me, and stood up.

            "Well," He yawned, stretching, "I'm a bit tired. I got up early today. I'm gonna go to bed. See you in the morning." He then passed by us, and I noticed that he whispered something to Malik on his was out of the room.

            Wonder what that was all about . . . Eep! Now I was alone in a room. With Malik. Oh God, now was the perfect time to tell him everything. For once in your life, just at least get enough courage, Ryou! I continued reprimanding myself until I noticed that Malik was staring at me.

            "What? Do I have something on my face?" I asked worriedly, not wanting to look like and idiot in front of Malik; the example of perfection. 

            "Oh – um – no . . ." He said, and then diverted his eyes to another part of the room.

            Awkward silence . . . oh how I hate these. I have to say _something_.

            "Hey Malik?" I asked, looking over at him. Today was the day. The day where I stop being so shy and tell someone how I feel. "I – um – I . . ." Oh . . . great time to freeze up.

            "You . . ?" Malik helped me along.

            "I – um – I'm a little tired too, from the tour of the city and stuff . . . so I guess I'll see you in the morning." Well, tomorrow's another day . . .

            "Okay; I'll see you then. Good night, Ry." He smiled.

            "Night." I muttered quickly before going up the stairs.

            I'm such a baka. And a wuss, to add to the list of personality traits I hate about myself. I wish for once I could tell him how I feel; I wish I wasn't so afraid of rejection. But I can't, and I am. So . . . I guess I won't tell him tonight.

            I flopped down on my bed, pulling the covers over my head. I didn't want to deal with any of this . . . I was going to bed alone – again.

_"Of all the words of tongue or pen, the saddest are those . . . 'it might have been.'"_

_(a.n. – Yay for me.__ Chapter 8 completed. Whheee! And I love everyone who reviews. ^_^ I love going back and reading them all; they're really the only thing that gives me inspiration nowadays. So, as I said, I'll make an attempt (no promises – I'm never good with them) to try and update sooner. Hell, I'll start the next chapter tonight if that makes everyone happy. As always – read and review. **And if anyone missed the poll results: **It was about 3 for sad ending, (which I personally wanted) and the rest (over 10) for a happy ending. But like I said, I think I've found something that will make both parties happy. Please review!) _


	9. Having Someone

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Nine  
Having Someone   
  
**_(a.n. – Gah! I'm so sorry that I'm so horrible with updating. And this will be my last update for 2 weeks [not that I would have updated in two weeks anyway, but that's not the point]. **I am going on vacation.** Yes, that is correct. I actually have something to do this summer. ^_^;; I will be gone from July 26th to August 9th. I will be writing lots up there, considering how there is absolutely nothing else to do, so when I get back, expect lots of crazy great stuff. Until then! The reason why I didn't update tomorrow or something [Friday] is because my dad is being weird and wants to get all the hardwood floors re-done. Therefore, the computer will be unplugged and being in the downstairs. T-T So sad . . .)  
**Disclaimer: **Urm . . . me no own na no da!   
_**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?**_

**Review replies:  
**Wow . . . 130. Never thought I'd _ever _get this far with _any _fic. Thanks to everyone who reviewed; you guys are the greatest.  
**Sarith**** McGregor: Heehee. ^_^;; Sorry if I made you go all "fetal position". I didn't mean to; honestly! *Straightens halo over head*  
**The Merciless Torturer: **Heehee. First time with shounen-ai, ne? Well, then I apologize if my story was so "I don't know." I really didn't mean to do that either! Damn. I'm really being a bitch lately, huh? Ah well; welcome to The Wonderful World of Yaoi all the same. Maybe sooner or later you'll get used to it? Ne? Ne?  
**Kilandra****** Yamitea: Heh. I postponed the dad-coming-home thing for a chapter. Just had to get this stuff done and away with. ^_^  
**BlackRose******: Maybe this chapter's what you've been waiting for? *Hint hint wink wink nudge nudge*   
**onlyHAUNTED******: Damn. I wouldn't do THAT to everyone. I'm not _incredibly _cruel. Keep that one in mind, love.  
**aznstarangel******: Hah! I wish that I made up the quotes. Nope – I'm just a quote-snatcher. Something I do in my spare time. Yes, I am fully aware just how pathetic I am.  
Yay! Lots of review replies that time. Keep them coming, please? *Chibi eyes*  
  
_"Love is having someone, life is having no one. Love comes to those who need it most, while life haunts those who beg to leave it."_**

**Malik's**** POV**

            Ceiling. White. Malik. Baka. Ryou. Perfecton. I was currently sitting in my room, laying on the bed, and staring at the ceiling. So far I had counted ten cracks, and a hole in the corner.

            I wonder what Ryou is doing now. Maybe he's thinking about me? Nah, I doubt it. I hate not telling him this. It hurts me so much to keep all of these thoughts and feelings inside me; I've never been one who's good with keeping secrets. But then again, if I tell him how I feel, just how much my heart aches for him, I might end up causing myself more pain.

            I flipped over on the bed and sighed, now gazing at the wall. The wallpaper was pretty. All blue with white swirls. Ugh. I need to distract myself somehow. This is hopeless. I'm hopeless. 

            Maybe . . . maybe it would easier on everyone if I just left. Yeah, it probably would. I took out my bag from where it was located under the bed, and opened up the wooden closet door. My clothes were all hanging there, and I took them all off the coat hangers and stuffed everything in my blue bag.

            When everything else that I owned was stuffed into the bag – into which it barely fit – I sat down cross legged on the comforter atop the bed and looked around. Should I go and say good-bye to Ryou? No, that would only make it harder on me.

            Finally, I decided that I would write him a letter. Pulling out a piece of paper from a notebook in my bag, I began.

_Ryou__,_  
I'm sorry that everything had to come down to this. I'm sorry I've been a burden on you. We only agreed to try this for a little bit, and I don't want to really do this, but I think it would be best for everyone if I just left. I'm sorry and . . . I love you.  
                                                                                    Malik__

            There. Short and sweet. Once my pen had left the paper, I noticed that I was crying. Some words on the paper were smudging. When did I become such a mess?

            I placed the note on the dresser and attempted to stop the flow of tears falling from my eyes. Key word: _attempted. I couldn't help it. I met someone who accepted me, who didn't expect anything from me, and now I was leaving. I might get over this._

            There was then a knock on my closed door. Ryou? No, it was too loud to be his. So then . . . it must be Bakura.

            Hurriedly wiping my eyes on my sleeve, I opened the door, and sure enough, Bakura was standing there with a stupid grin on his face.

            "So . . ?" He asked expectantly.

            "So what?" I questioned bitterly. I really just wanted him to leave me alone.

            "Did you tell Ryou?"

            "No."

            He then looked at me more closely. Then his eyes traveled from me to the open closet door. "What's wrong?" 

            Crap. I forgot to shut the door. "N-nothing."

            His eyes then wandered to the dresser, and before I could do anything about it, he was there – reading the note. 

            When he was finished, he looked up at me in shock. "You were planning on leaving?"

            "I _am planning on leaving." I corrected him._

            "Why?" He asked incredulously, "I just got used to the fact that you and Ryou were going to be together."

            "He doesn't like me." I sighed discontentedly, sitting on the bed.

            "Did he tell you that?" Bakura raised an eyebrow and put the note in its previous spot.

            "Well – no. But why would he?"

            "I have no idea." Bakura seemed to be agreeing with me, so I glared at him. He could be at least a _bit _sympathetic. "No worries though, him and I don't usually agree on things, and I know he likes you." 

            "Did he tell you that?" I mocked him.

            Now it was his turn to glare. "No. But unlike _you, _I happen to share a mind link with him. Most of the time I can read his emotions."

            "Well . . . you don't understand anything about me. Even if he _did, _I'm not sure it would be the best thing for him."

            "You said that before," Bakura said, somewhat to himself as he sat down next to me. "Care to explain?"

"No."

            He growled a bit. "Tell me anyway or I'll make Ryou come in here and give him the note while you're still here."

            "You're pure evil, did you know that?"

            "I try hard. Now talk."

            "Well," I started. Where the hell to begin? "I really don't know how to explain everything." 

            "For starters – where are you from?" Bakura asked, and I suppose my darkly tanned skin was a dead giveaway that I wasn't from Japan.

            "Egypt."

            "Then how the hell did you get all the way here?"

            "A plane." I rolled my eyes.

            He sighed. "Okay. _Why the hell did you decide to come here?"_

            "It was the furthest place I could get away from home with the money I had."

            "What did you want to get away from?"

            "You sound like a therapist."

            "Answer the question."

            This was such a hard question to answer. "I was running away from . . . well, myself I suppose."

            "What did you do?"

            "I did nothing, and yet people were scared of me." 

            Bakura blinked a bit. "That doesn't make sense."

            I sighed. "I – I have . . . a yami. Like you, only different."

            Bakura didn't seem _too _fazed by this. "Interesting . . ."

            "Why don't you seem shocked?" I questioned. 

            "When you told me your name, when you first came here, I recognized your surname. Ishtar . . . the grave guardian. But how the hell did he come back? You have a Sennen Item?" 

            "Well – yeah . . . but that's not what he came from. He was . . . born of my anger; when I was younger. And I – I can't seem to get rid of him. He killed people back home and . . ." I eventually trailed off; the memories being too painful.

            "And that's what you ran away from?" He asked and I nodded. "Oh . . . what item do you have?!" He asked excitedly.

            "The Rod . . ." I said, pulling it out from the bottom drawer of the dresser and unwrapped it from the cloth that it was hidden in.

            "Ooooh! Shiney!" Bakura cried, and I saw instant item lust – or whatever the hell you would refer to it as – in his eyes. Then he coughed, and seemed to take control of himself again.

            Being a bit scared of the psychoticness, I wrapped it back up in the cloth and then shoved it in my backpack this time. I was surprised that Yami hadn't made a "guest appearance" yet. He was actually being quite quiet during the whole conversation.

            "So . . . you gonna leave still?" Bakura asked finally, killing the silence that was enveloping the room.

            "Do I have a choice?" I asked, thinking that he was going to make me stay.

            "I'm not going to make do anything," Bakura commented, seeming to have read my thoughts somehow, "But Ryou would be heartbroken and depressed if you do go."

            I sighed. I doubt he would, but then again, Bakura _did _seem to know more about Ryou than I do.

            "I – I don't know what else to do . . ." I admitted, feeling worthless and vulnerable. 

            "Tell you what," Bakura said in a kind voice that I had never heard before. "If you stay, I'll try and help you control your yami with my Sennen Ring. Sound good?"

            I nodded. I suppose that fixes everything that I was worried about. I don't know how powerful he was, but for now, I have no reason not to trust him. 

            I nodded again, slowly, "That would work."

            "_But,_" He added, his notorious, mischievous twinkle back in his eyes, "You have to do something for me."

            Oh gods. Here's the catch. "And what do I have to do?"

            "Tell Ryou how you feel."

            Meep. Maybe I _shouldn't stay. "Do I __have to? I'm . . . well, I'm scared." I admitted._

            "Yep. You have to do it. I suggest doing it now, before you worry too much over it and then are scared shitless when you go and finally talk to him."

            "But I've _already worried about it way too much."_

            "Well . . . then you've got nothing to lose – go for it." 

            I glared. I seem to glare a lot when I'm around him. How the hell does Ryou stand him?

            "I suppose I should . . ." I sighed, finally giving up.

            "And if he says no, I'll make things easy on you and kick you out!" He grinned. Man, this guy can really be an ass. But then again, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be doing this right now. Don't know if that's a good thing or not . . . 

            "Shut up." I said icily and trudged out of my room and went up to Ryou's closed door.

            I was about to bring my hand to connect with the mahogany wood that made up the door, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

            "Go on, you stupid wuss!" I heard Bakura's incredibly loud whisper from down the hall.

            Slowly, I knocked at the door inaudibly at first, but then eventually got louder. 

            "Come in!" I heard Ryou's melodic voice from the other side of the door. He didn't seem to be too with it, however.

            I opened the door and poked my head in. I noticed that Ryou was reading a book, and that he wasn't looking up. He flipped a page lazily and continued reading.

            Then I went fully into the room and closed the door behind me. When Ryou heard the click of the door shutting, he looked up. When he saw me, a big smile graced his face and made him shine.  

            "Hey Malik!" He chirped happily. Oh, how I would hate for him to be depressed.

            "Urm . . . hi Ryou." I said shakily. How the hell do I start this?

            Ryou must have noticed the worried look in my eyes. "What's up?" He asked as he patted the spot next to him on the bed as a gesture for me to come and sit down. 

            I obeyed, and soon found myself sitting inches away from him, staring into his endless pools of mocha color. Damn. I wish I could just jump on him right now. 

            "Well . . . I – I . . ." I started, still stuttering. I might as well be blunt and get it over with, right? I mean, there's really no use in hyping things up to be more than they are. If he says no, that's okay, and we can just go out on our separate paths. Sure, I might cry over him, but I'm sure I'll get over it. That's the absolute worst that could happen, right? I wish telling your crush these things didn't have to be so damn hard. Everyone should just be open about their feelings and not worry about hiding them. Oh. Now I'm being a hypocrite. 

            I had been looking down at the floor during my whole thinking process, and when I looked up; I noticed that Ryou was staring at me expectantly. Right. I never finished my sentence, did I? 

"I – um - oh hell . . ." Actions speak louder than words, ne? 

            So with that, I took Ryou's face in my hands, pulled him close to me, and kissed him gently. There. I did it. Now no one can call me a wuss.

            When we both pulled away - and I was happy to know that Ryou didn't pull away before I did and that he actually responded – I just stared at him, hoping for any emotion to flicker across his flawless face. There was a slight blush that was growing, but that was all.

            "Ryou . . . I love you. I've never truly met anyone like you before, and my life would be incomplete now if you weren't in it. I know this might sound a bit lame, but – go out with me?" After that, I took a deep breath. No regrets, right? Only lessons learned, ne? 

            A smile spread across Ryou's face - in what seemed to me - slow motion. This was a good sign, right? Or was he just laughing at me?

            "Malik," He said breathlessly as he attached himself to me, "I've been waiting for you to say that for so long, because I've been too shy to."            

            I returned his embrace and just held him there. So this is what happiness feels like, huh? Happiness . . . combined with love; the ultimate "natural high." 

            Ryou. My angel. My angel with the snow colored hair. Yes . . . my snow angel.

_"The best things in life are not things." _

_(a.n. – WOOT!__ Nine completed. This is a record for me. And not to worry people, this is nowhere near being completed. ^_^ I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I made it longer than the rest of them [hopefully] to make up for the fact that I won't be here for two weeks [not that I update that fast, but that's not the freaking point – once more.] So yeah, please read and review. I'd love to come back home to great reviews. ^_~ Happy rest of summer to everyone! o0o0o – and if anyone is wondering why this might be uber-fluffy. I have been going Gravitation-obsessed the past couple of days; watching and such. So . . . yeah. That might explain some things. ^_^ Great show. CHECK IT OUT!)_


	10. Time is Eternity

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Ten  
Time is Eternity   
  
**_(a.n. – Wai! I am back. I did come back Saturday . . .  but my computer has hated me ever since. Every now and then I get kicked offline for no particular reason. It's really quite annoying, but I should have time to post this. So I'll try. However . . . I really don't think that I can reply to the reviews. I'll try when I'm finished typing. But for now . . . the story begins.)  
_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything . . . merely the idea.  
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?  
**Review Replies: **(I'm gonna attempt this. Can't promise I'll get too far though. Why does the computer hate me? T-T)  
**onlyHAUNTED: **Haha, your wish shall be granted _next _chapter. Heh. And I love Yami Malik too . . . I always go for the evil ones. ^_~ Thanks for the review.  
**The Merciless Torturer: ***Ponders your penname, but decides against saying anything for fear of . . . well, being tortured . . . mercilessly. O.o* ^_^;; I'm kidding. I love you forever for reviewing. And I'm glad someone loves my story so much as to actually care if it ended or not. ^.^ Yay hurray for me.  
**Elle-FaTe2x1: **Ohh! I'm terribly sorry about your finger. I do hope that it gets better soon. ^.^ I appreciate you taking the time to write a review even with your crippled finger.  
**Kilandra Yamitea: **And here I like long rides. Mainly so I can listen to music . . . and because I write better in the car, but ah well. Heh. Glad I gave someone something fun to read when they came back. ^_^ Thanks for this review and all of your others.  
**H**erm. Maybe people have been asking me about the quotes. If they can have them and stuff. I forget who did recently, but it was someone. So to save everyone the trouble: Go on, take them! They aren't mine. You're only stealing from me who stole them from other people. Yes. And no thought is an original thought so _they _must have stole it too. So never fear: we're all a bunch of kleptomaniacs! Fun, ne? *Looks at all the scared readers* I'm sorry . . . *Goes and hides in corner*  
  
_

_"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love – time is eternity."_

**Ryou's POV**

He said it. He told me that he loved me, and now he was holding me, probably thinking that I was asleep – considering how I had closed my eyes just to take in the sheer bliss of it all.

            This must be a dream. I might wake up any minute now to find myself all alone. I don't care though. As long as I can remember this dream – the feel of his lips on mine – I can go on being with him without actually _being _with him for longer then I could have before.

            "Malik?" I mumbled, still nuzzled into his chest.

            "Hm?" He asked.

            "Am I asleep?"

            He stopped, and there was a thoughtful silence. "No . . . why?"

            "Just making sure."

            "Mm-_hmm." He might think I'm insane now – I don't care, I've always thought he was insane – in an affectionate way, of course._

            I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He looked tired. I wondered what time it was, and glanced over at the clock to discover that it was well past midnight.

            "Tired?" I questioned, not wanting to keep him up.

            "A bit," He responded truthfully. "Are you?"

            "Hai."

            "Wanna go to bed?"

            "Hai . . ." I muttered once more, this time more sleepily. I did wish to get some shut-eye, but I didn't want Malik's arms to leave from where they were.

            "Okay." He responded, brushing my bangs out of my eyes.

            Then, to my surprise, he laid down beside where I usually sleep on the bed.

            "Why -?" I started, but got interrupted.

            "Coming?" He asked expectantly.

            "Oh . . . right – ah . . . pajamas . . ." I muttered incoherently as I grabbed them off of my dresser. Then I hurried off to the bathroom to go change. 

            I really couldn't care less whether I slept in my pajamas or not. I just needed some time to think. On our first day – not even a complete one – of going out, he wants to share a bed with me? I don't really mind as long as he doesn't, well, _do anything, but it is a bit uncomfortable; with me never have dated anyone and all . . . _

            Sighing, I pulled off my clothes and soon after put on my pajamas. Carefully, I stared at myself in the mirror. What does he _see_ in me? Oh well – as long as I have him – I'm happy.

            Then, I quickly brushed my teeth in case well, you know, more of what happened before happens again.

            I hurried back into the bedroom, worried that I had spent too much time and that Malik would be bored. I found that while I was changing, he evidently had too.  

            He was lying on his back, arms stretched out in back of his head. He was wearing a black tank top and red pajama pants that came down . . . quite low on his hips. He was showing a great deal of his tanned midriff, and quite honestly, I didn't mind. Soon, I caught myself staring.

            Damn. He looks so _hot. Suddenly, I became quite self conscious. I was wearing blue kimono pants, which were quite baggy and __incredibly comfortable, and a white T-shit that was a couple sizes too large that I got from some school event or another. _

            When I started drooling over Malik again, I noticed that he had rolled over on to his side, and had propped his head up with his hand on one side; the other hand placed carelessly on the sheets. His eyes met mine and I suddenly became aware that _he had been staring at _me_._

            "You look cute." He said quietly, and I felt the color rise to my cheeks. God, I hate being so pale. He simply smiled at my blush.

            What the hell do I say now? "Thanks," or something like, "You do too,"? God, I need a book called "Right Things to Say to Your Boyfriend for Dummies." Maybe when this is all over, and he's dumped me because I was a big loser, I'll be able to write that one. I'll just tell people to do the opposite of what I did, and they'll do fine. Ah, yes – I can see it now: "Dating Follies" by Ryou Bakura. _The Tokyo Times bestseller, ne?_

            "You gonna go to sleep or just stand there all night?" I heard Malik say, and the blush on my face grew redder.

            "Ah – right . . ." I said slowly, and climbed into bed. Now what the hell do I do?

            Luckily, I didn't have to do much, as Malik snaked his arms around me, and soon his chest was my new pillow. Quite comfortable, really.

            Soon after that, I became less and less self conscious, and just enjoyed having Malik so close to me.

            Malik's lips were caressing mine once more, and this time the kiss lasted longer then the previous time. When we eventually _did _pull apart, I knew that he was grinning. It was hard to tell, really – because I had flipped the lights off previous to climbing in bed – but it just seemed like it was a situation in which he would do that. His smile is heaven . . . 

            And so I entertained thoughts of his cute grin as I drifted off to sleep, probably to have dreams about Malik, too. I hadn't wanted to fall asleep, for this was like a waking dream, but I was fighting a losing battle against the rest of my tired body. 

            "RYOU BAKURA!" A _very loud shout awoke me the next morning, probably breaking all of the fragile things in the house, along with successfully waking me._

            I opened one sleepy eye and glaring sun beams greeted me. Reluctant to be blinded, I closed it again. 

            Why the _hell was my dad yelling at me? It was Sunday – I didn't need to go to school. I rolled over and suddenly realized who I was sleeping on. _

            _Shit. _The first day my dad gets back, he sees me sleeping in the same bed as Malik. I can only imagine what thoughts are running through his head. At least we're both fully clothed.

            I reluctantly opened my eyes, deciding that pretending to be asleep would only get me in more trouble, sat up and sheepishly looked at my dad.

            He looked _extremely pissed off. "Explain yourself." _

            "He – well – um . . ." I stuttered, not knowing how to phrase this. I looked down at Malik and wished I could be him – sleeping through the whole thing.

            "Is this the "friend" you were talking about, or just some ten cent street corner whore?" My dad said snidely, looking Malik up and down.

            I was shocked. Who was he to jump to conclusions? He wasn't even _around _half of the time. Stupid bastard. The anger was really boiling up inside me.

            However, shouting only leads to more trouble for me. So instead of telling him what was on my mind, I stated calmly, "Dad, he doesn't sell himself for money, and yes, this _was the friend that I was telling you about."_

            He looked at me disbelievingly. I don't think he wanted to accept the fact that he had a gay son. "You never said anything about a boy . . . a . . . a – boy . . . friend." Nah – he wasn't liking this at all.

            "Well," I started to defend myself, "We only started going out last night . . ."

            "AND YOU'RE ALREADY SLEEPING WITH HIM?!" My dad exploded. Wrong move telling him _that. Whatever fragile things that had not been broken the first time were certainly smashed now. And still, Malik slept on._

            "Well – I – we weren't _sleeping together. In the literal sense, I suppose we were, but we didn't _do_ anything last night, if that's what you're worried about." _

            "And how do I know that?" My father asked faintly, "I always thought you were a good kid, Ryou. Oh _God I need a drink." And so he stumbled off to find the kitchen. With luck, he'll find Bakura's liquor stash, get shitfaced, and forget all of this._

            When Tou-san was well away from my room, I flopped down on top of Malik, hoping to wake him up by "accident." However, he didn't move at all, and made me wonder whether he was really asleep or not.

            Gradually, Malik woke up, and eventually those lavender orbs that I love so much were staring at me.

            "Ah – well, good morning Ryou! I'm not much of a morning person – so don't expect too much," He stopped talking to look at the clock, "Ah! Evil! You woke me up before noon! I'm going back to sleep . . ."

            "My dad's home." I said bluntly.

            Malik blinked, "Okay . . . so I'll just go to my room before he comes up here?"

            "He already came in."

            "Ohh. Bad reaction?"   

            "He went to go get a drink."

            "Eep. I'm sorry, Ry. I should have slept in my own bed."

            "No, no, it's fine . . . I liked having you in my bed." I said shyly, the blush I've grown used to by now was currently covering most of my face.

            Malik grinned. "Your bed is comfier than mine, anyway."         

            I sighed. Normally I would be happy, but Tou-san's reaction was not a good one. "He thinks you're a street corner whore."

            Malik laughed at this. "Let him think that, I don't really care all that much. Not the first person who's said that, either . . ." Malik got a sort of pensive, nostalgic look on his face.

            "Well, I suppose you being you doesn't help." Bakura muttered as he barged into the room, white hair swishing behind him from his sudden movements.

            Malik glared at him. "What's _that supposed to mean?"_

            "Oh – nothing. And Ryou – your dad's an ass. He's drinking _my _vodka and probably on his way to the amaretto by now." Bakura said bitterly.

            "Your own damn fault that you keep it in such an obvious spot." I shrugged.

            "Shut up. And why is he all upset?"

            "He walked in on me and Malik sleeping together."

            "Oh yay! My little Ryou, having sex on the first night. I'm so proud!" My yami cried has he hugged me. I rolled my eyes. 

            "Bakura. I didn't mean it like _that. _We really were just sleeping." I sighed.

            His arms detached themselves from around me. "Oh. Well that's no fun."

            My yami the idiot. Malik was merely smiling at the whole situation, seemingly finding it entertaining.

            "So _that's what he's got a stick up his ass about?" Bakura asked bluntly, sounding like he didn't think it was an offensive thing at all._

            "Well – if you wish to phrase it like that – yes." I replied.

            "What an asshole."

            "Bakura! Be nice – he's my dad!"

            He rolled his eyes, "Can I kick him out of his own house? Pretty, pretty please!" He attempted to look innocent, but I don't think Bakura can _ever _look innocent.

            "No."

            "You're no fun."

            "Thanks."

            I heard Malik laugh a bit. "I am _so glad I decided to stay. This is quality entertainment."_

            For a moment I was going to roll my eyes once more, but then something Malik said stuck out at me. _'I am so glad I decided to stay.' When was he leaving?_

            "You were . . . gonna leave?" I eventually interrogated. 

            Malik's eyes grew a bit wide as he seemed to have realized what he just said.

            "I – um – well – only for a little bit . . ." He said slowly.

            Bakura snorted. "Only for a little bit? You were all packed up and ready do go. You even had a note written to Ryou and everything!" Malik was glaring daggers at him, while Bakura's slanted brown eyes were shining in the excitement of causing trouble. He really can be annoying . . . but you gotta love him.

            I looked over at Malik. "Why did you want to leave?" Maybe I did something wrong that he didn't like. But then . . . why had he asked me out?

            He sighed, "_Thanks, Bakura."_

            "Anytime." Bakura replied as he leaned up against the wall that was opposite the windows.

            "Well," Malik started, turning to face me. "I was worried that you wouldn't love me. So . . . I was depressed and everything. But, luckily Bakura's a persistent bastard and wouldn't let me leave until I told you how I felt." He smiled a bit, and Bakura was grinning in the background, seemingly happy about being called a "persistent bastard."

            I could tell that he was holding a small piece of information back, but I didn't really press on the matter. For the moment, I was ecstatic! He really cared about me that much! 

            I smiled warmly at him, "Yeah. Bakura can get like that sometimes."

            He stood up and enveloped me in a hug. Then, he kissed the top of my head. This is where I want to be. With Malik. Forever. I can deal with Tou-san later. He's probably passed out by now, anyway.

_"Love is when you don't want to sleep because reality is better than your dreams."       _

_(a.n. – Heh heh.__ Okay – random notes: Obviously "The __Tokyo__ Times" isn't a real newspaper, I posered it off of "The New York Times." Yep, that's crappy American thinking for ya, mates. ^_~ Urm . . . and I do put Bakura as the comic relief . . . because I like him like that. Anyone agree with me? Hope so. Just yell at me if you don't – I won't really change anything, but I might have a good laugh. [Most flamers really need to spell check their reviews. And they call *me* a crappy writer.]  Urm . . .and we have an appearance from the notorious [but lovable!] Yami Malik next chapter. Yaaaaayyyyy! I'll try to get that up as soon as possible. *Kicks computer* WORK!)_


	11. The Darkest Hour

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Eleven  
The Darkest Hour   
  
**_(a.n. – Wahoo! I actually updated faster than I normally do. What's wrong with me? Ah well – not gonna question. Urm . . . this might be a bit odd. Dunno why – perhaps the fact that I was watching Gravitation while writing it could have something to do with it. ^_^;; What a weird show. But it's my favorite show [sorry to all you die-hard YGO fans]. Heh – if you don't know what it is – DOWNLOAD IT! Right. I'll stop being the Gravi promo girl. Onward!)  
_**Disclaimer: **Standard disclaimer applies.  
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?  
**Key: **Again, as usual.  
//Yami no Malik to Malik//  
/Malik to Yami no Malik/  
\\Yami no Bakura to Ryou\\  
\Ryou to Yami no Bakura\___

**Review Replies:   
onlyHAUNTED: **I don't think that you're bad at typing. Heehee – but after I said this, I did get a flame for my Yuu-Yuu Hakusho story. Man, that one amused me. The person couldn't type for crap. I'm still not sure what they were trying to tell me. ^_^;; Ah well. It's still there – if you need a good laugh. Thanks so much for reviewing; you do lots and I love you for that.  
**Kawaii Kuroi Mahotsukai: **^.^ Yay. I love all of my compliments. Thanks heaps. And my computer no longer hates me – thank the Goddess. ^_^ Thanks for your concern and the review.  
**Firefreak Ryuuka: **Bwah hah hah! I wish I made them all up. I do have a book of "Lizzie-isms" if anyone's interested. No, I'm kidding (about the you being interested part – the book really does exist) urrrrmmm – I just got them from random quote sites. There's many good ones.  
**Blood Roses 1: **Change of . . . penname? *Notices the 1* Ah well – prolly ff.net hating the world again. Heehee – and I haven't read many stories with Ryou's dad in it at all. O.o;; Ah well. And yes, yes the "psycho" title does fit him quite well.  
**Lady Shriannan Santrea: **Sugoi! I love first-timers. O.o;; That makes me sound . . . hentai? Okay – urm, well: Welcome to the wonderful world of Malik/Ryou shounen-ai! ^_^ Ahh, hai, hai – quotes can be touching. I'm glad you like my story. ^_^

_"In the darkest hour, the soul is replenished and given strength to continue and endure." _

**Malik's POV**

            Ryou had gone downstairs to sort things out with his dad, and I was sitting on the bed, thinking things through. I had almost told him about everything that happened. Luckily, he seemed to believe half of the truth.

            Bakura had snuck downstairs, just outside of the kitchen, trying to hear the fight. Ryou caught him though, and the last I heard him he was stalking down the hall mumbling something about how he was "loosing his touch" and how no one should shame the "King of Thieves." Baka.

            The voices of Ryou and his dad had grown considerably louder, and I could hear bits and pieces of the conversation. Apparently his dad didn't like me. Ah well.

            I had gotten changed out of my pajamas a little while ago, and once the yelling stopped, I presumed that the fight was over, and went downstairs. 

            I reached the bottom floor. No one was around. Creeping towards the kitchen, I still heard no one and saw nothing. 

            Everything was silent on the ground floor. Strange. I expected _some _sort of talk. I walked over to the kitchen, pushed open the swinging door, and froze. Just as I had opened the door, Ryou's dad threw an empty liquor bottle at him. The sound of glass rang in my ears. _Shit. _He was obviously drunk. A streak of red appeared across Ryou's face where a shard of the rebounding glass bottle hit the wall and then his cheek.

            I felt the anger boiling up inside of me. _Bastard. No one _hurts Ryou. Before I knew it, I was loosing control of myself. I was pushed back inside . . . my yami was out.

            Before I knew it or could protest against anything, he was striding across the kitchen.

            "Malik?" I heard Ryou say in the back of my mind; he sounded very far away. He was far away.

            I knew that I probably looked recognizably different; a more evil appearance. Hopefully Ryou would figure out that this wasn't me; he had a yami, he must know how these things work.

            While I had been panicking, my yami had taken the sharpest knife he could find out of the silverware drawer. 

            //You want me to get rid of the baka's dad first?// He questioned, seemingly excited about being able to kill. He makes me sick.       

            /Don't kill anyone!/ I protested, worrying that Ryou would hate me – if he was still alive – after this.

            Ignoring my stupid pleas, he advanced on Ryou's father, who had a look of pure terror written across his face. Usually after I saw that look on people's faces through my yami's eyes, they were dead soon after.

            Oh, Ra, please don't let him kill them. Ry's dad may be a bastard, but I can't decide who dies and who lives; and no one deserves death. It's a permanent decision – whether you made it or someone else made it for you. I'm not a god; I can't decide these things for other people. However, my yami seems to think that he _is God._

            Turning my attention back to what my yami was doing with my body, I noticed that Ryou's father had a couple of cuts across his arms, and a small one along his right cheek. Crimson drops were falling to the floor slowly, making a faintly audible sound of a splatter each time one fell. It was sickening. The silver knife was being held against his throat. Sadistic _bastard_; my yami likes to cause as much pain and fear that's in his possession to do so.

            I heard Ryou yelling in the background; he was crying. _Ryou._ Once Yami finished off his dad, he'd go and kill Ryou. I don't care what happens to me; I'll die for Ryou. Without him, I might as well be dead.

            I need to be back in control. But _how?! He was born of my anger . . . so – maybe being happy would drive him back. But what do I have to be happy about?_

            'You have Ryou,' a little voice in the back of my head said. Oh gods. There's _more _voices?! Brushing it aside as my long overdue, delayed reaction conscience, I directed all of my attention into thinking about Ryou.

            I can't do this without him. He's so . . . innocent and beautiful. I want to be with him forever, and I would never get bored or tired of looking at him. He captivates me like no one else has and will be able to. And if . . . and if . . . he dies, then . . . I'll be alone again. I don't want to be alone. Oh please gods, don't put that misery in my life again.

            I squeezed my eyes shut, and when they were re-opened, I saw Ryou's dad looking at _me; hardened brown eyes shaking with fear. My yami was gone . . . but how? I wasn't very happy. I was sad . . . but . . . full of love. Love must have done it. I've never loved anyone like this before._

            I became vaguely aware that the knife was still to the man who screwed everything up, the one who hurt Ryou . . . 

            //Kill him.//

            I shook my head. No. He wasn't coming back out. I dropped the knife; it narrowly missed Ryou's father's booted foot. I sank down on my knees and began crying the tears that I've been holding back for too many years.

            Each tear that fell down and splashed against the blue tiled floor represented every single one of my faults; my insecurities and weaknesses. It also reminded me about how much danger I was to Ryou. If I had only left before . . . it would all be okay now. But it's not okay; I don't know what to do. I can't face anyone – not after this.

            I felt someone kneel down beside me. I stiffened when they put their arm around me. I knew from the gentleness of the touch that it must be Ryou. Isn't he furious at me?

            "Ryou!" I heard his dad's voice shout, "Stay away from that – that psychopath!"      

            He should get away from me. I'm a danger to everyone; I should be an island, but instead I'm still here in society.

            "No." Came Ryou's quiet but determined voice. Doesn't he know what he's _doing?!_

            There was a shocked kind of silence. "Well . . . I HOPE HE KILLS YOU THEN!" And with that, the man that I had known for such a little amount of time, yet still didn't like, stalked out of the kitchen, grabbed a dishtowel on his way out, threw open the front door, and then moments later slammed it shut after him.

            Ryou's other arm wrapped around me, and for a while he just held me, on the kitchen floor – which had a mixture of tears and blood on it – while I cried endlessly. 

            "Ryou . . ." I mumbled after a good while. 

            "I'm here." He said reassuringly.

            "You need to get away from me."

            "No, I don't."

            "But you know now that I'm dangerous."

            "I also know that wasn't you . . . your yami, right?"

            I was a bit shocked, "How did you know?"

            "Bakura." That cleared up some stuff.

            "I'm still dangerous."

            "I don't care. I'd be more miserable if you left." He said, resting his chin on the top of my head.

            "I . . . I don't want to kill you." I muttered, probably sounding crazy.

            "You stopped him this time."

            "But what if I can't the next time?" That was my worst fear.

            "You can . . ." He kissed the top of my head. "I have faith in you."

            Sometimes faith may not be enough. But I don't want to go away. _I'd _be miserable too, if I was away from Ryou for longer then what was absolutely necessary. But . . . maybe – maybe if I believe – it'll all turn out right. I love Ryou, and I have no plans to change that anytime soon. I can win against Yami if I just use love. My love. For Ryou.

            "I – I . . . I suppose you're right." I finally admitted to him, and attempted to make myself believe t.

            "If you can't believe in that," Ryou whispered in my ear, "Believe in me."

            That was something I could _definitely do._

            I stood up, Ryou following suit. "I'm . . . gonna talk to Bakura." I said, thinking that maybe he'd know something about this. 

            "All right," He said, smiling at me. "I'll be upstairs if you need me." He kissed me on the cheek quickly and then bounded up the stairs.

            Staring after him for a few moments, a small smiled played on my lips. Eventually I went walking around the house, searching for Bakura. It was amazing how much of a mood changer Ryou was.

            I located Bakura in the living room, watching TV, seemingly uninterested.

            "Bakura," I began meekly, worried that he was going to be mad at me or want to kick me out.

            "You know, they don't put the camera on drunks who run out onto the ball fields to discourage copycats, and yet they televise police chases. I don't understand it." He said, flicking off the TV. He then turned to me. "I'm not mad at you. I know that you don't have lots of control over him and that you somehow stopped him."

            I blinked. He could be the most random person at times, and sometimes he could be so philosophical and understanding. "I – uh – so you saw everything?"

            He nodded. "So how did you do it? How did you manage to get him back in your control?"

            I sighed. "Truthfully, I have no idea. I guess it was just my love for Ry and my will to not let my yami hurt him."

            Bakura smiled a bit. "That's good."

            "But," I started – something else was bothering me, "What about Ryou's dad? Does he really hate him – and me – that much?

            Bakura looked thoughtful for a bit. "I know he only yelled and hurt Ryou because he was drunk. I'm pissed off about it, yes, but he didn't mean what he said. I'm not so sure about you though. Especially after what your yami pulled."

            "That's a given." I mumbled.

            "Your yami," He started, pausing a bit to think, "He . . . he came about from your anger?"

            "Yeah . . ." I said slowly, wondering what he was getting at.

            "Well, as you know, I'm from Egypt. And well, I used to rob tombs and stuff back then; I was known as the 'King of Thieves,'" At this point, he smiled a bit, seemingly proud of his title, "And . . . in one certain pyramid, there was a 'prophecy' written on the wall, but I didn't take much note of it, because I was never one to believe in prophecies."            

            "So what did it say?" I inquired, growing impatient at his pensive, and probably recollecting, pause.

            "Hold on," He sighed, "It was about a boy . . . from the desert of the sun. He – he would have some force going against him, keeping him from loving something pure. And the whole thing is supposed to end in suicide. I don't know why anyone would make a prophecy about something so trivial; I think it was depicting how all love is illicit, or maybe they were just telling their own story. I don't know, but it said that – down the very bottom, where the wall was faded – that the course of this struggle would change a world in some way." He finished, still looking a bit disbelieving about the whole thing.

            I laughed a bit.

            "What?" He questioned.

            I stood up. "I was never one to believe in prophecies."

            "Good," I could just _feel him smiling at the back of my head, "That way the future's fate can truly unfold. It has always been my strong belief that you make your own tomorrow by what you do today."_

            "It makes more sense that way." I replied.

            "Eh, then go make your tomorrow better." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. I turned to look at him quizzically. "Go tell Ryou that you love him." He smiled.

            Not everything is perfect, and I'm beginning to accept that. I can't do anything to fix some things that don't involve me, but I can and will change what I can. The future isn't set in stone. What would be the fun, and inspiration, of living if it were?

_"Sometimes, we must get hurt in order to grow; we must fail in order to know; sometimes our vision clears only after our eyes are washed with tears."_

_(a.n. – Yay. This chapter is done. And so soon after the next one. Oh, be proud of me – I'm actually doing good at updating! It won't be finished before school starts again though. I go back the 7th. Yay for that; I actually start late. It's one of the perks of going to a private school: start late, get out early. -.- The ONLY perk of private school. Damn forcing parents. Okay . . . well, I'll attempt to update real soon again. Please review!)_


	12. For Those Who Feel

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Twelve  
For Those Who Feel   
  
**_(a.n. – Bwah HAH! I FINALLY finished this. I'm sorry it took me so damn long to get this one updated. Thank my Ryou muse for making me get this done. Since it's his birthday and everything today . . . I decided I'd finish it. ^_^ So yay! Happy Ryou's Birthday everyone! Yes . . . I am fully aware of how weird that sounds. Urm . . . just a few warnings. The beginnings of this WAS written at 4 in the morning while we driving my brother to college. Be afraid . . . be very afraid. And . . . this chapter is written in Yami Bakura's POV! Please don't ask why. I was in a writer's block and decided that doing something different might get me out of it [I have a thing against schedules and routine]. So yeah . . . it's just for this chapter. If you don't like it . . . yell at me. ^_^;; Sorry for such a long note. Meep. Onward!)  
_**Disclaimer: **I have less money than the last time I updated . . . do you really want to put me through absolute broke-ness?!   
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?  
**Other random note: **Yami Malik SHALL be referred to as "Marik" in this chapter. I apologize if anyone hates that._

**Review Replies: **(So many! Squee!)  
**The Merciless Torturer: ***Hides from all the reallys* That was crazy! But I appreciate it! How long did that take you . . . anyway?  
**Rnji and Mysterious A: **Nani?! The 18th?! I'd shoot myself. Goddess – that's torture! And yeah – I don't like suicide either. Completely against it.  
**Sarith McGregor: **Heehee. Did I push the limit on your "Take your time" note? T-T I'm sorry this took so long. Blame it on . . . the world? And the manga of Gravi is hard to get. I might borrow it from a friend though. If they can stop reading it . . . -.-  
**onlyHAUNTED: **Haha – your spelling's not incredibly bad. I make typos all the time. You just don't see them because I proofread this. Bwah hah hah! All of you just THINK I can type. Oh, how wrong you are. I might make typos . . . sorry if I do. And yes – I must wear a uniform at my school. I've gone to public school up until now, so . . . *Shoots self*  
**Kyrene: **Heehee. Way to show them! Hope you don't mind me skipping the end of your penname . . . I'm lazy like that. ^_^;; And yeah – ff.net can be evil at times. *Wonders if she's gonna get bashed for saying that*   
  
_"Life is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel."_

**Yami Bakura's POV**

            Malik and Ryou. _Malik and _Ryou. _Where the hell do I even _start _with their relationship?! It's crazy – it honestly is. There's Malik – who is more like me then I'd like to admit, and my sweet, angelic hikari, Ryou. What a fucked up pairing. But . . . I guess it works._

            I don't know where their relationship is going. I think that it will work out. But it won't be easy. Is love ever easy? I didn't really think so, which is why I gave up on it a _long time ago._

            I never really understood why people bothered with love. In the very end, for a couple of years, you might get something special – but up until then, it's all hurt. Are those few years really worth all of those tears? Who knows? I plan to never really find out.

            I don't know what those two are thinking. Possibly every single thing that can go wrong, _has gone wrong. And yet . . . they aren't giving up. I don't discourage them from being together, in fact, I support it. I haven't seen Ryou this happy in a long time. It's good for him. _

            I don't know what to do about Malik's yami . . . or Ryou's dad for that matter. They're the two people who are keeping this from working. I don't know what to do about them. I have ways of getting rid of Malik's yami . . . I suppose . . . but I can't do much about Ryou's dad. Not unless I want Ryou hating me; he may not look it, but he can be cruel when he wants to!

            But . . . I don't know what to do about anything anymore. I gave up on everything such a long time ago – so the door's closed. What's left that I can hold on to? There's Ryou . . . but he's only human. He'll die eventually and then I'll be stuck in the ring once more . . . all alone. It's sad to think about, but that won't happen for a while, hopefully – so I shouldn't worry about it right now.

            The house is quiet now. I guess it makes sense. Not many people are up at four in the morning. I have a weird tendency to either not need sleep or become nocturnal every now and then.

            I was sitting on the couch, glancing out the window at the illuminated cobblestone walkway that leads up to the house. Things were so much different back in Egypt. But then again, I guess time changes everything. Sometimes I wish that things were the way they used to be. But . . . I suppose that things are less stressful now. That can be a bad thing, I get bored _way _too easily; it's scary the things I come up with when I'm bored.

            The lights outside were starting to blur together from my lack of blinking. Then, I saw something move along the walkway, obscuring one of the ground lights. Soon after, the doorbell rang. I figured if it was Ryou's dad, he would've let himself in. So it was someone else. What an inconsiderate bastard. Who goes around ringing doorbells at four in the morning? And here I thought I was the only one who found it amusing . . .

            Figuring that the person would run away soon after, I didn't bother getting off my ass. Then it rang _again. How annoying._

            Sighing, I got up and trudged over to the door. Opening it, I stared at the sight before me. AHH! There was something multi-colored and _pointy _growing on this person's head! They should really get that checked out. That's just not normal.

            Upon closer inspection, I realized that I knew this person. Stupid Pharaoh. Why is he bothering me? Shrugging, I decided that I didn't really wish to know and slammed the door in his face. Baka Pharaoh with the midget hikari who probably hasn't even hit puberty yet.

            I was about to go back to the living room when the Ra-damned doorbell rang _again. _I should strangle him.

            I opened the door and glared. "What?" I questioned icily.

            "We need to talk." I'm not talking with _him._

            "You need to leave." I started to close the door again.

            "I'll keep on ringing the doorbell." Damn him. Ryou's sleeping.

            I sighed. "What the hell do you want to talk about?"

            He looked at me seriously, "Marik." 

            How the hell did Yami know about that? I sure as hell didn't tell him because I knew that if I did, he'd go psycho-crazy and try to fix everything. 

            I sighed, "What about him?"

            "He's here." Yami said, simply inviting himself into the house and closing the door behind him.

            "Thank you for stating the obvious . . . please have a nice day and drive home safely." I moved to open the door again.

            He glared at me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

            "Because I knew you'd get like this. It's not a big deal – I can take care of it."

            "Then why haven't you already?" Grr. He bothers me.

            "I – I . . . leave." I said finally, deciding that I wasn't in the mood to deal with him, and I won't ever be for a least a good thousand years. 

            "No. I'm not leaving until I know what's going on." Stupid, stubborn pharaoh that _must be all-knowing. _

            I sighed. "What do you want to know?"

            "Got any coffee?" And here I thought I was the only one that pointlessly changed the subject. "I'm not used to being awake at this hour." He sighed. He did look a bit tired.

            "Not for you." I replied, wanting to make him more tired so that maybe he'd leave.

            I began walking to the kitchen, where there was a small table and stuff for _me _to drink.

            As we walked by the wooden dining room table, Yami seemed to notice my collection of coffee spoons on the table, each filled with bits of ground-up coffee beans.            

            He blinked at them for a bit, and then turned to me, "Why . . .?" 

            "I have measured out my life in coffee spoons," I explained, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to do, "I ran out of spoons though – so I got mad and threw the can at the wall." I told you I got bored way too easily.

            His eyes wandered over to the lidded coffee can on its side near the wall.

            "I thought you said that you didn't have any coffee . . ."

            "Correction: I said that I didn't have any coffee for _you_. I have coffee for someones like myself. There's a big difference, Pharaoh."

            He just glared at me and sat down alongside the many coffee spoons. Hmph. _I _wanted to go into the kitchen. Oh well. The smell of coffee was good.

            "So . . . how long as Marik been here?"

            I shrugged, I'm horrible with time. "A couple of weeks . . . maybe more – less?"

            He sighed. "_That's helpful. And just how did he get here?"_

            "He was like us . . . comes with ones of those damn Sennen Items, apparently. But . . . Malik said that he was born of his anger, so maybe that's what called him back rather than the item . . ." I tapped my finger against my lips thoughtfully.

            Yami raised an eyebrow. " . . . Malik?"

            "Eh . . ." I wondered how I should explain this. "Ryou's boyfriend. He just kind of showed up on our doorstep one day. Ryou brought him home." 

            "Oh . . ." Yami looked a bit scared. Hee hee. "So . . . Marik's still . . . psycho?"

            I nodded in affirmation. "He already tried to kill Ryou's dad."

            Yami sighed heavily, "There's only one way to get rid of him . . . because he's not in the item . . ."

            I knew where he was going with this. I slumped down in the chair opposite Yami and looked at him coldly. "I can't kill Malik."

            There was a pause. I know _he didn't want to do it. He has to maintain his image that he was oh so honorably fighting for the good of all. It pisses me off. The truth about life and what we should do lies neither in the absolute good nor the complete evil. It rests in the depths of a mix of the two; the in between. The impure . . . yet still not corrupted. The world's happiest people are branded sinners._

            ". . . Do you want me to do it?" He finally asked in a barely audible voice.

            "I won't let you."

            He looked a little shocked. "And why not? You already said that he tried to kill Ryou's dad. He obviously hasn't changed since . . . back then. There's no other way to do this."

            "There has to be . . ."

            "There's not."

            "Well . . . then . . . fine – so there's not. But I'm still not agreeing with it, nor will I let _anyone kill Malik."_

            "Why?! He's not your damn hikari to protect!"

            I looked him straight in the eye. "No, but Ryou is. I've never seen Ryou this happy in my whole life with him. I'm not going to let anyone ruin the best thing that's happened to him in a long while."

            Yami stared at me. I knew he could understand this. I'm sure he was picturing having to take away something that made Yuugi happy.

            "Fine," He finally responded, "I'll see if there's anything else . . . a binding spell or something . . ."

            "Yeah . . ." I mumbled, standing up soon after he did.

            He walked over to the door and opened it, "Good-bye, tomb robber."

            "Mm," I mumbled, leaning against the wall closest to the door, one foot resting up against the white wall. "Thanks . . . for understanding."

            "I can grasp where you're coming from this time, at least." He closed the door behind him and walked back down the cobblestone path.

            I sighed and banged my head softly against the painted wall. Was I even doing the right thing? Marik _was dangerous . . . but I couldn't do something like that to Ryou. Not after what happened to his mom and Amane._

            I heard a soft padding sound. It seemed like someone was either going up or down the stairs in shoeless feet. When the padding grew softer, I assumed that someone was going upstairs.

            Switching into high-alert mode, I walked over to the staircase. Had someone broken in? . . . Maybe I was just being paranoid. Even still, I slowly ascended the steps. When I got upstairs, I peeked into Ryou's room and saw him laying there with Malik.

            A small smile crept across my lips. My insecurities slowly melted away. Yes. I had done the right thing. They seemed so right together, even when I didn't believe in love, and even if I _was a bit overprotective of Ryou. He'd be so sad if Malik went away. I can't stand to see him sad._

            Hmm. Now to find the criminal. I popped my head out from Ryou's doorframe and continued my trek down the hallway, pausing to look in every room.

            When I was close to looking in the last room, I heard a noise behind me and spun around, looking around wildly. I saw Ryou standing there.

            "Bakura," He said softly, and a little tiredly, "Thanks." He hugged me quickly for a moment and then stumbled back to his bedroom.   

            I stood there, utterly confused. What was he thanking me for? Then, a thought struck me. There hadn't been any intruder or anything downstairs. Makes sense. Yami's Ra-damned ringing spree must've woken him up and he heard the whole conversation.

            I am worried about this whole thing, but Ryou's happy. That's the important thing. This whole situation is confusing and crazy. But then again, when did things _ever _make sense? This decision may be wrong in the long run, but will I have any regrets? None.

_"Do things you really care about. You're going to be dead so much longer than you're going to be alive."_

_(a.n. – Wahoo! That chapter done. Next chapter shall be Ryou's POV once more. I just needed a break from routine. I do often. Heehee. And I'm not a huge Yami fan . . . but you know, it only makes sense that he'd wanna know about the situation. I do tend to bastardize him in my fics . . . I try not to, really! *Cough cough* I also didn't mean to make fun of Yuugi! Heehee – I actually like him; he's a cutie. But I don't think Bakura does . . . yeah . . . and the beginning of this was also written listening to "Superhyperspastic" by Sugarcult non-stop for about an hour. That song is just too amusing at 4 in the morning. Please review to tell me if you liked the random change chapter or not. It was __11:24 PM__ when I finished this . . . dunno what time ff.net is on [hah – and I meant time, not drugs . . . although I wonder about that sometimes, too] – hopefully I still made Ry's birthday. ^_^ . . . My notes are getting too long. -.-)_


	13. Not a Dream

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Thirteen  
Not a Dream  
  
**_(a.n. – Wah! I apologize endlessly about how long it took me to update this. It's just school . . . it's evil. I'm sure all of you shall be able to agree with me, ne? Heh. So yeah – the thirteenth chapter. Lucky number 13. I actually like the number. *Shurgs* Yeah – so I hope everyone likes this chapter and finds it in their hearts to forgive me. Ne? Ne? Haha – I was going through some of the earlier chapters – and damn some of them were short. Some of these shall be short too. I'm sorry – I try to update, but fail, and then my chapters are short. I fail at life. Apologies, mates.)  
_**Disclaimer: **Wishes sadly aren't reality. So that also sadly means that I do not own this.  
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?_

**Review Replies:  
Trei: **Heerm. I don't know why I like Yuugi more. I think it's cause of the kawaii chibi-ness. Heehee. ^_^  
**GreenFairy: **. . . the school scenes? Well, they ah . . . yeah – they kinda died. Heh. There's one in this chapter though. Man, I suck at time.  
**The Merciless Torturer: **o0o0o – yeah, _that _copy and paste copy and paste copy and paste copy and paste copy and paste copy and paste copy and paste copy and paste copy and paste thing. Ah hah . . . catching your drift . . .   
**Yami Hitomi: **Ehhh – sorry I never got around to e-mailing you. I will soon though. I love you forever for calling me "grand." That's the one adjective I can honestly say I've never been called. I applaud you for that.   
**Turtle Child: **Panda here . . . calling, urm . . . turtle? Heehee – thanks for the review . . . in computer class. O.o;;

_"When I consider this carefully, I find not a single property which with certainty separates the walking state from the dream. How can you be certain that your whole life is not a dream?"_

**Ryou's POV**

After I had talked to Bakura, it seemed like I had only slept for a few seconds before my alarm clock started yelling at me. Stupid ads. I wanted to wake up to _music. _

            I threw one of the smaller pillows on the bed at the alarm clock, and the rapid talking instantly ceased. My aim was getting pretty damn good. Then I heard a banging noise as the white, tasseled poof hit the ground alongside a water bottle. Maybe my aim needs some work . . . 

            I rolled over lazily and looked up at Malik. Still sleeping. Does _anything wake him up? Shaking him slightly, I whispered his name, but to no avail._

            "MALIK!" I tried screaming in his ear, but he just mumbled something and slept on.

            "Wanna keep it down in there? I don't need to know what you're doing gods dammit!" I heard Bakura yell from his room.

            I instantly blushed. "I'm just trying to wake him up!" I yelled back defensively.

            "Suuure."

            Ugh. Bakura can be annoying. But he can also be really great when he wants to be; not very often, basically. I am truly grateful for what he did for me – and Malik – earlier this morning though. 

            I sighed and poked Malik. Nothing. I continued poking, finding it highly amusing, until I poked his nose and he bit my finger. . . . Freak.

            Attempting to pull my finger out from between his teeth, I was becoming slightly miffed. _I had to get ready for school and so did Malik._

            I kicked him and eventually his eyes slowly opened.

            "What ish yurs finghar dong en ma mouf?" Came the muffled question as I pulled my finger out, noticing that it was slightly red with bite marks.

            "You bit me!" I glared. "I hope you got your rabies shot."

            He just grinned. "Did I really do that in my sleep – or was there some hidden message there?"

            I blushed for the second time that morning. Malik just continued grinning and then propped himself up on his elbows and kissed me. Great. Am I ever going to return to a normal color before school?

            "Morning, love." He whispered softly in my ear. Flopping back down on the pillows, he asked, "Now why the hell are you waking me up so early?"

            "We have school." I stated the obvious.

            "Ah – screw school. Let's stay home."

            I sighed. "We can't just _skip school." I protested, not really knowing _why _we couldn't, but it was just wrong._

            "Sure we can. I can think of much better things to do, anyway." He winked at me.

            Sighing, resisting temptation, I got out of bed. "_You _can do whatever you want, _I'm _going to school."

            He looked sad as I exited the room, school uniform in hand. As I was getting changed in the bathroom, I questioned whether or not Tou-san had returned back home yet. I didn't hear him come in . . .

            After getting washed and dressed, I poked my head into his room, and saw it completely untouched, just unpacked baggage strewn around the room.

            Being worried for only a few moments, I shrugged the uneasiness away and then walked back to my room. Malik was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, in school uniform.

            I raised a questioning eyebrow, "So you're coming?"

            He sighed, and then looked me straight in the eye. "I'm going wherever you are." 

            My eyes widened at this. Was he being serious? Or did he just want me to stay with him? He was still staring at me . . . sending shivers down my spine.

            He got off the bed and walked over to me. "How about we go meet those friends of yours?" 

            "Um – yeah – hang on for a second, though." I said hurriedly, then rushed off to find Bakura. 

            Truth be told, I didn't want to walk to school with Yuugi, Honda, Anzu and Jou. I would be content with just walking with Malik. Everything else seems so trivial when you're in love.       

            I located Bakura downstairs, doing some weird thing with coffee spoons. I question him sometimes . . . 

            He looked up as I entered the room. "Oh – hey . . ." 

            "Good morning." I greeted, opening up the fridge and pouring a glass of apple juice.

            "Where's Malik?"

            "Upstairs."

            "Ah hah – want me to tell Yuugi, Anzu, Jou and Honda when they come looking for you that you had to leave early?"

            My eyes lit up at that as I whirled around to face him. "Could you?!"

            He dismissed my excitement with a wave of his hand. "Sure – go now so that they don't see you on the way." 

            And so me and Malik were walking to school. Alone. Oh, how much of a hopeless romantic I must sound like. I don't care though.

            We walked in constant chatter and when the talking ceased, Malik reached over and took my hand in his. How juvenile. Not that it matters – I was ecstatic. We walked to rest of the way in a comfortable silence.

            School passed by pretty quickly, Malik watching being the sole purpose of the six hours that usually waste most of my day. 

            When we got home, I threw my book bag on the dining room table, simultaneously knocking over a few coffee spoons. What were they even _doing _there?!

            "Ahhh! You knocked over all of my hard work!" Bakura cried as he came running into the room.

            I blinked. "What the hell _is it?!" _

            He glared. "Don't question the doings of a genius. You're fixing that." He pointed to the spoons and coffee beans on the floor.

            I rolled my eyes, deciding that I'd vacuum later because I know no one else would.

            "What do you want to do for dinner?" I questioned Bakura to change the subject, figuring I'd have to start fairly soon.

            He looked still distraught over his . . . "masterpiece," but still answered, "Oh – I'm not gonna be here – so ask Malik."

            "Where are you going?" I inquired curiously.

            "Nowhere." He shrugged.

            "And what are you doing once you get there?"

            "Still nothing."

            Fine. If he was going to be like _that.___

He looked at me. "It's not somewhere I want to go."

            "Then why are you going?"

            "I'm being forced to."

            "Oooh! Someone controls the all powerful tomb robber?!" I said with mock astonishment.

            He glared. "Shut up."

            I sighed and walked off, going in search of Malik, and found him asleep on the couch. He really does like his sleep, ne?

            "Malik!" I yelled, and this time he actually woke up.

            "Hmmwha?" He questioned sleepily. 

            I smiled at the cuteness of his sleepy stupor. "What do you want to do for dinner? Bakura's going out, so it's just me and you."

            "Hmm – you always make dinner. I'll make it for us tonight. As a surprise." He winked one lavender eye at me and then stumbled to the kitchen, either drunk of still half-asleep.

            I was currently sitting in the living room, reading. Malik was in the kitchen, and wouldn't let me near it. Bakura had gone off to his mysterious location, grumbling the whole way out.

            Hearing a loud clatter from the kitchen, I instantly became alarmed. A loud cry of, "shit!" only furthered my worries, but I went back to reading, figuring that if _Bakura can make something halfway decent, anyone could._

            My mind soon wandered from the pages of the text, and I began wondering where my dad was. Usually I don't worry about him, because in the beginning when I did, he always turned up a few hours later – completely fine. But this was a day later – surely he should be back by now . . . as much as he's screwed up some things, I do hope he's okay.

            Then I started to wonder where Bakura was, and why he wouldn't tell me. It's not like he needs to hide stuff from me, but he was this time – even through the mind link. Wonder why . . . everything's so fucked up right now. And yet I'm still happy – blissful, even. I've always wondered what true love felt like – now perhaps I know. All because of the Egyptian beauty, who's probably the furthest thing from me personality-wise. And he only entered my life a short while ago . . . 

            Speaking of whom, Malik came into the living room just then, smiling a bit nervously. "Um – yeah. You won't get to taste the great cooking of Malik Ishtar just yet . . ." I looked at him quizzically, and then he added, "Oh yeah – and I owe you a pot."

            "What the hell did you _do?!" I questioned incredulously._

            "Well – a few things _burned, but I put the fire out before it damaged anything, honest! Only the pot died . . ."_

            I sighed, "So do you want me to make something?"   

            "Nope. I got it all under control." He grinned. Just then, the doorbell rang, and he said, "There's our dinner now."

            He walked to the door, paid the Chinese looking man who handed him a brown bag of food, and then placed the bag on the living room table. 

            "You like Chinese food, right?" He asked, opening the bag. 

            "Ah – yeah." I said. I haven't had take-out in a while. At least I don't have to cook.

            After we finished, I pulled out the fortune cookies from the bottom of the bag. These things were so much fun. I handed one to Malik, took one for myself, and decided to save the other one for Bakura, as he thought these things were wisdom incarnate itself.

            Malik pulled out the paper in his, went wide-eyed, and suddenly cast it aside. I looked at him oddly. 

            "What does it say?" I asked, taking the paper and reading it.

            "It's nothing . . ." He said softly.

            "It probably just means that you'll be successful, but to remember your humble roots." I explained, wondering why he made a big deal out of it.

            "Um – yeah – right . . ." He mumbled, taking some plates and carrying them off to the kitchen.

            I picked up the rest of the silverware and cast one more glance at the small, white slip of paper: 'You will go far, but remember to come back.' Ahh – fortune cookie wisdom . . .

_"A path without obstacles probably leads nowhere." _

_(a.n. – Wahoo!__ That chapter finished. o0o0o – and for all who care – all of the mysteries WILL eventually be revealed. Heh. Yeah – please review. Maybe it'll motivate me to write instead of doing homework – even though I will be chomped upon. Heh heh – hope everyone else is having an easier time with homework than I am. ^_^ I'll try to write the next chapter fairly soon. Until then, me maties.) _


	14. Apologize for the Truth

**Show Me the Way from Crazy  
Fourteen  
Apologize for the Truth**

_(a.n. Bwah hah hah? I'm sorry I fail so much at life. I mean . . . this took me almost a month to update. I blame it all on school – but if you want to blame it all on me – please, feel free. I'm going to have to start writing any chance I get now – yes *gasp* that means not being lazy for me. Haha. That's all right though. I just have so much schoolwork. But . . . I'll get used to it. Find time. Yeah – please bear with me.)  
_**Disclaimer: **If I owned YGO . . . it would be a hell of a lot more like this. So . . . maybe one day I will? Heh heh . . .  
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?_

**Review Replies:   
Trei: **Haha. I feel so IMPORTANT! Bwah hah hah. But yeah . . . no offense to anyone who writes – cause there are some _wicked _good stories still out there . . . but a lot of them . . . man, fanfiction.net is dying.  
**Tenma Koneko: **Haha. It's all good. Don't feel like you always have to review. ^_^  
**Kyrene: ***Looks around inconspicuously* Damn . . . you're good at this guessing thing.  
**purplechaos04: **Heh heh . . . yeah . . . there really is this thing in writing called a dramatic something that's like "you have to believe what the writer says for the sake of the plot" Yeah . . . just – ah – pretend that applies here? Haha.  
**Rnji and Mysterious A: **2? I've stayed up later than that. Sleep? Bwah. Who needs sleep? . . . Sleep when you're dead. ^_~

_"Never apologize for showing feelings. Remember that when you do, you apologize for the truth."_

**Malik's POV**

            It's been a couple of weeks since I – urm – killed dinner. Heh. Just a couple of uneventful weeks. I don't know why I stayed here for so long. I usually get bored with things real easily and then move on real quickly. But it seems that Ryou's enough to elongate my attention span . . . no complaints here.

            Ryou's dad had come back eventually. Apparently he was staying at a friend's house. He came back, still pissed off, told Ryou he had another dig to do, threw all of this stuff together and left. Ryou was pretty distraught for a week or so . . . but I think he's better now. 

            I have seen Bakura send these weird, questioning glances at me every now and then when he seemingly thinks I'm not looking. It doesn't seem like he's questioning _me, but more like himself . . . being in a situation that involves me. Gods, I hope I'm wrong._

            Things with Ryou and myself have been going fairly well. Just a few kisses here and there; lots of cuddling. It makes me happy. Hell, I even smile to myself when I think of him. Maybe the infamous Malik Ishtar has finally found someone to stay with . . . the only problem is my goddamn yami.

            "Hey, Malik . . ." Ryou started as he ended my thought session in the middle of the dining room table. 

            I question this kid sometimes. I'm here, sitting in the cross-legged in the middle of the freaking dining room table and he doesn't even comment about it. Then again, if I had lived with Bakura for as long as he has, I might find the abnormal things completely normal too.

            "Yes?" I inquired, propping my head on the palm of my hand.

            "Do you want to go out and do something? Like go to the movies or something?" He sighed, looking quite bored. And I always thought Ryou had an extremely long attention span.

            I casually followed his glance at the window and saw that it was pouring outside.

            "I have a better idea," I started, thinking that the movie theater would be crowded. "How about we rent some movies, make popcorn, and watch them here?"

            "But how are we going to get to the movie store?"

            I remembered from our last outing seeing it only a couple of minutes away . . . so it wouldn't be too bad.

            "A little rain never killed anyone," I said, smiling.

            Ryou looked thoughtful for a moment, his deep brown eyes still locked on the window.

            "Fine," he decided finally, "But I'm bringing an umbrella."

            I held up my hands in mock surrender. "I never said that you couldn't, love."            

            Ryou ran off to the hallway closet, white hair trailing behind him. I followed soon after, and saw him grabbing a raincoat and umbrella as I passed. Seeing my black sweatshirt on the stair banister, I took it and pulled it on.

            "Malik!" Ryou said, looking at me, "That's a sweatshirt."

            I blinked back at him. "Ryou!" I started, "That's a raincoat!"

            He narrowed his eyes and I grinned. I don't ever think I've felt happier in any place before Ryou's house. It's comforting . . . it lets me be myself; no expectations.

            "You're going to get a cold," Ryou mumbled, "cause the fabric will soak up the water."

            I shrugged, "Thank you for your concern, _mom, _but I don't _get sick. And if I did happen to get sick, by some weird fluke, you'd take care of me, right?" I latched my arms around his neck and kissed him, all the while still grinning._

            His expression softened and he gave in. "Fine. You'll still look like an idiot though." 

            I started going through the door, "And you'll look like a duck!" I yelled from outside the house.

            I stood, glaring at an aisle of movies. Yes, _glaring. _Ryou _had been right. I was wet and __cold. How was I supposed to know?! It never rained a hell of a lot in Egypt._

            "What are you in the mood for?" Ryou asked me.

            I shrugged, "I'm not a big movie person – you can pick whatever you want. I'm sure it'll be great."

            Ryou smiled, and looked through a couple of aisles of movies. Along the way of walking, I half-heartedly picked up a few seemingly interesting movie titles and skimmed their summaries.

            Over the top of one particular movie cover, I saw someone out of the corner of my eye. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I shifted slightly to gain a better view. _Shit. There was a young woman in the far back of the store, with long black hair and clear blue eyes. There she was. There was . . . _

            "Hey Malik!" Ryou said happily from behind me. "I was looking for you – anything you want? I was just gonna get a couple . . ." He trailed off – as I was glaring a bit at him.

            I realized that he looked slightly hurt and really confused – so I hugged him. "Sorry bout that, Ry. And I'm all set. We can go get the movies you wanted."

            "Okay," He said finally, still a bit confused, but seemed to shake that off, and smiled instead.

            When we were walking out the door, I looked over at her once more. I don't think she saw me. If she did . . . oh crap, I'd have to leave again.

            We finally arrived back at Ryou's, and now I was even wetter. Grrr. Wet and cold. _Horrible combination._

            "Cold?" Ryou asked softly, noticing my shivering.

            "A bit," I smiled meekly.

            "If you want you can go change and put your stuff in the dryer while I make some popcorn." Ahh – one of the _many things I love about Ryou. He doesn't usually say "I told you so" about things. It's nice . . .  it's – comforting._

            "Yeah . . ." I mumbled, starting to go up the stairs as Ryou walked to the kitchen.

            In the room, I pulled on pajama pants – they're the comfiest things ever made – and a shirt. Glancing around, I saw one of Ryou's sweatshirts through the crack in the open closet door. Figuring he wouldn't mind, I took the light blue material off the clothes hanger and pulled it over my head. Not the color I would have picked . . . but it was comfortable. And it smelt like Ryou; I have to borrow this more often.

            On my way out the door I slipped on slippers and then padded down the stairs. Ryou was walking out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn. 

            "I borrowed your sweatshirt – hope you don't mind," I smiled apologetically.

            He smiled back. "It's fine – it looks good on you."

            Going into the living room, Ryou put the popcorn on the table, dragged the table closer to the couch, and finally got the movies out. 

            "So which one do you want to watch first?" He asked, holding up four tapes.

            I shrugged, "Probably wouldn't be able to tell one from the other. You can pick."

            "Okay . . ." He went to looking at the tapes. Eventually he picked one, put it into the VCR, and sat back down on the couch next to me.

            About halfway through the second movie, I had my arm around Ryou and his head was on my shoulder. I was so comfortable and relaxed. You know how people always talk about their "happy place"? I thought that I might have found it before . . . but this is definitely it. Nothing can ruin my mood.

            The rain was still pounding down, watering the earth. The _pitter-patter_ had a relaxing tone to it, and put me into a blissful state even further.

            A loud _ding-dong echoed through the spacious front hall and Ryou's head left the spot on my shoulder. Dammit. I was quite comfortable like that._

            Ryou smiled a bit, "It's probably Bakura. He went out and knowing him, he forgot to bring a house key and locked himself out in the rain." He paused the movie, set down the remote and ran over to the door.

            I just sat there and sighed, waiting for Ryou to come back so I could be comfortable again. I heard voices coming from the right of me – in the front hall. One of them was Ryou's, and the other one was a familiar female voice . . . although the rain outside was louder because of the open door and I couldn't place the voice.

            The rain noise became quieter again after I heard the door shut. Then I head Ryou's socked feet padding towards me. He came into the room, looking a bit confused.

            "Someone's here to see you," He said, obviously bewildered.

            Slightly scared as to who it might be, I slowly got up and plodded into the hall. Standing there, on the worn "welcome" mat, was someone who was close to being the last person I wanted to see.

            "Hello, Malik." She said emotionlessly, staring at me with those all-knowing clear blue eyes.

            Ryou was standing off to the side, curious, but probably wanting to seem polite.

            "Isis . . ." I said slowly, wondering why the hell my _sister_ would follow me all the way here. I know _how _she found me – that damn tauk of hers lets her know everything. "Why are you here?" I finally formulated one of my many questions into words.

            "I could ask you the same thing."

            "I ah . . . I . . ." How do I say this? I took a deep breath and said, "I live here."

            She raised an eyebrow at me, but still didn't seem shocked. "Mom and Dad wish that you would come home."

            "I am home." I replied defiantly. No way in _hell _was I going back there. 

            Her eyes darkened. "Malik . . . you're coming home."

            "No – no I'm not."

            She doesn't understand. She never did. She tried to – but I know that she couldn't. Too much pain . . . too much regret. I couldn't ask anyone to try and understand that. I'm so much better off here – Bakura's helping me with my yami issues and Ryou . . . well, Ryou's giving me a reason to stay alive. Isis can go back home and tell Mom and Dad that they can turn off the porch light . . . I'm not coming home.

_"Our eyes are placed in front because it is more important to look ahead than to look back."       _

_(a.n. – Yep. So ends chapter 14. I appreciate everyone's support in me writing this story. It probably wouldn't have gotten past chapter 5 without you guys. And about the whole Ryou's dad thing – don't think I'm just getting that over and done with – that'll be put into more detail soon. So . . . yeah, thanks for reading this – I do hope you decide to review. Even if it is a one-liner. ^_^ I haven't gotten a flame yet! Amazing, really.)_


	15. Life Falls Apart

**Show Me the Way from ****Crazy****  
**Fifteen******  
**Life******Falls**** Apart**

_(a.n. – Oh wow.__ I'm sorry, people. Almost a month since I haven't updated. I feel terrible. I am sorry, and I have been making an effort. School, family . . . you know, the usual excuses. I'll try to get everything else up sooner. Thanks for the patience and the support. Love to all of you.)  
_**Disclaimer: ***Insert standard disclaimer with some sort of witty comment*  
**Note:** _This is completely **AU**. Nothing in the series has happened in this. Well . . . kinda. Everything up to __Battle__City__ has . . . I guess. But besides that – nothing! Heh heh – just to clear up confusion . . . Oh! And another thing, I will be switching the **point of view** every chapter (don't worry – only between two people) because well, it's better to get everyone's perspective, right? Heh heh – and this is **shounen-ai** . . . if you have a problem – why the hell are you reading it?_

**Review Replies: **  
**onlyHAUNTED: **Beautiful impression of a flamer, my dear. Got the spelling down to a T and everything. *Applauds*  
**QueenAllie: **Heehee, steal away. I'm sure I prolly stole the idea from someone too. O.o my science teacher last year once told me that no thought is an original thought. I came up with something really weird and told him no one had ever thought that before . . . o.O  
**Kawaii Kuroi Mahotsukai: **Yay. Fans always make me happy. ^_^;; Sorry this took so long, by the way . . .   
**Nightfire Kariana: **Heh heh . . . even I don't know where I come up with some of this shit . . . 

_"When your life falls apart, always remember that I will be the one who will stay to help you pick up the pieces. And when the rest of the world walks out on you, remember to leave the door open, because I am the one who will be walking in to help you through it all."_

**Ryou's POV**

            Malik and his sister had moved their shouting match to the kitchen. Actually . . . Malik was the only one who was yelling.

            I don't want him to leave . . . but, I also don't want his family wondering about him. I want him to be happy, so if he decides that he wants to go back home . . . I won't stop him. 

            He tried to leave once before . . . maybe he's only staying here so that he won't make me feel bad or anything. That would be horrible. Have all that we done . . .  all that we've shared . . . was it really all a lie?

            I was still standing in the front foyer when Malik ran upstairs. Seconds later, I heard a door slam shut. Isis walked out of the kitchen soon after . . . only much more composed than Malik had been.

            She began staring intently at me, and didn't look away. After what seemed like forever just standing like that, I finally moved.

            "Um . . . excuse me please," I muttered softly as I started up the stairs. "You can help yourself to anything," I added as an afterthought, running the rest of the way up the flight of steps.

            As I came to the hallway, I noticed that my door was the only one that had been shut.

            Knocking on it softly, I called out, "Malik? It's just me. Your sister's still downstairs."

            I heard footsteps come up to the door, and then the wooden barrier that separated me from him opened a bit, and two watery lavender eyes peered out at me.

            I pushed the door open the last of the way and hugged Malik. I've never seen him this sad. It's depressing . . . I only want him to be happy.

            "I don't want to go," He said into my shoulder, which was getting increasingly wet from his tears.

            "Didn't you talk to her?" I asked.

            "Yeah . . . but she's so goddamn stubborn it's frustrating."

            "Well . . . do they need you back home?"

            "Not really . . . but Isis keeps on insisting that they do. They were all always so scared of me and pretending that I wasn't there anyway. That's the way they always were . . . thought that if maybe you ignored a problem long enough, it would go away. Well, I'm gone, but now they want me back, and . . ." he broke off then, throwing his arms around my neck and sobbing. 

            I guided him over to the bed and sat down, still hugging him and petting his hair.

            It was then that I saw the scared, insecure child in Malik. There's someone like that in all of us. Some people gladly never have to face that person, while the rest of us have to face them more than once. And it's scary and we hate it, but all we can do is hope that there will be someone's awaiting arms that we can fall into; someone there to dry our tears and sew us back together when we're falling apart.

            My hand, by this time, was now stroking Malik's head instinctively. His sobs had been reduced to sniffles, and we were just laying there in each others arms. It's funny how the most romantic of situations branch out from the saddest . . .

            I jumped up when I heard loud voices downstairs. Malik lifted his head from my shoulder, and looked at me quizzically.

            "Shh . . ." I got up and motioned for him to follow me down the stairs. 

            Hand in hand we made out way down to the ground floor quietly, and then hid underneath the staircase we had just descended.

            Peeking out a bit, I saw Bakura and Isis glaring at each other in front of the door; Bakura must have just gotten home.

            "You don't understand," Isis said, trying to make her voice appear calm, "if Malik stays here then it will only cause a lot of trouble. _Believe me."_

            Bakura just glared at her. "If you make him come with you, then _I'll _cause a lot _more _trouble."

            She stared at him for quite a while. "Why do you care so much?" She asked quietly.

            "Because . . . I've never seen Ryou this happy. He needs someone there for him, a person who can do more than, well, what I can. And Malik, even though he won't admit to it, had his heart closed when he first came here. They're both growing, and even if it's a mistake, they should be allowed to make it."

            Isis sighed after a long time. "Fine. I'll just go back and tell my parents that I couldn't find him. Just be aware that I'll be keeping an eye on everything and that you _are messing with destiny."_

            Bakura just smirked. "I don't believe in destiny."

            I glanced over at Malik to see his whole take on this, and his eyes seemed to be shining with renewed hope.

            Isis exited the house and Bakura closed the door after her. "You can come out now," he said.

            Malik looked a bit surprised that Bakura knew we were there, but I just ran up to him and hugged him.

            "Thank you Bakura!" I cried out, and although he seemed to look disgruntled, a small smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

            I ran back over to Malik and attached myself to him. He smiled faintly, but didn't look entirely exuberant.

            After Bakura left to go downstairs, I turned to Malik. "What's wrong?" I asked him worriedly.

            "It's just . . . Isis was never one to just give up like that. I know she said that she'd be "keeping an eye on us" or whatever the hell that means, but she'll do more than that . . . trust me," Malik replied, sadly smiling.

            "Do you want to go back there?" I asked softly, now staring at the ground.

            "No, no . . . I just want to be with you," he whispered, hugging me.

            "I'll go with you if you want," I said, only wanting him to be happy.

            "Oh – Ry . . . that's not it. Here is much better. No one knows me . . . therefore no one does anything to me," he sighed, "and plus . . . here has you, and even if you came with me, I know you'd be happier here. And I'm happy if you're happy," he kissed the top of my head.

            I smiled and hugged him back. "Can we just pretend that nothing's wrong and that everything's perfect? Even if it's only for a little while . . ."

            I could feel him smile a bit and then sigh, "We can try . . . and I hope that it works."

            Fewer things went wrong when I didn't know Malik, but . . . I am so much happier now. I don't understand how that works but . . . it does.

_"I've gotta bust you out of here somehow.  
I've never seen your heart this tired.  
I've never seen your spirit held down."_

_(a.n. – Yep.__ And so ends the fifteenth chapter. Sorry if it was short; I kind of finished it in the hallway at school while waiting for some friends to get out of Model UN. I hope everyone liked it, and I promise to try my best to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. My schedule is really hectic, and I'm sorry – but I am trying the best I can. Thank you for your patience. Heehee – I sound so serious, and that's not me. Anycrap, hope everyone else is having a much more relaxed life than me. ^_^ Ja!) _


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